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WE TEST 9 PRINTERS AND MODEMS FOR THE ROADI

nnani

JUNE 199':

ULTIMAIE PCs!

HOnEST MACHINES
FORWRIimCPUBUSHING,
AND ACCOUNTING

o'i"71AS6"02193'

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Onl)' enter information once.
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FL-4fe]D f2-rHe/PrlTit r3-Flnd/Edlt M-Listl FS-Beuorts f6-ftct iuitie^

0 Qt

U^f

f" The alternative to
^W accounting softwafe.

If busine

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With accounting software, you had to

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New QuickBooks uses just plain
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ifyou want to
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loose w

lom

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Payments to the same vendor can be

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combined

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Prints checks automatically for all bilk

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VOLUME 14, NO. 5, ISSUE 141

JUNE 1992

FEATURES

6
TOP PC UTILITIES

By Dan Gookin

The Norton Utilities and PC

Tools go head to head.

T!ST LAB

Edited by Mil^e Hudnall

Portable printers, modems,

and faxes for tfie road.

QUEST FOR PERFECTION

By Gregg Keizer

Design ttie perfect macliine

for your application.

STRICTLY PERSONAL

By Rosalind Resnick
How to hold your life
together with PIMs.

SIMEVERYTHING

By Gregg Keizer
The hottest PC games.

COLUMNS
4

EDITORIAL LICENSE

By Clifton Karnes
COMPUTE'S editors.

NEWS & NOTES

By Jill Champion
Top computer news.

FEEDBACK

Answers to tough questions.

TIPS & TOOLS

Edited by
Richard C. Leinecker
Tips from our readers.

COMPUTE/NH

By Richard C. Leinecker
What's new online.

INTRODOS

By Tony Roberts
Make an emergency floppy.

Cover photo by Michel Tcherevkoff

POINT & CLICK

By Clifton Karnes
High-powered Ascend.

HARDWARE CLINIC

By Mark Minasi

How exactly does XMODEM

ensure your data arrives

safely?

PROGRAMMING POWER

By Tom Campbell
The PC's character ROfvl.

SHAREPAK

By Bruce M. Bowden
Shareware treasures.

136

NEWS BITS

By Jill Champion
Top stories at press tinne.

DEPARTMENTS
72

PRODUCTIVITY CHOICE

By Tony Roberts
OR DOS 6.0.

PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY

By Daniel Janal
Combating computer stress.

ART WORKS

By Robert Bixby
New illustration software.

MULTIMEDIA PC

By David English
Sound Blaster Pro.

DISCOVERY CHOICE

By David Sears
Super Solvers Spellbound!

PATHWAYS

By Steven Anzovin
Let your colors shine.

ENTERTAINMENT CHOICE

By Peter Olafson
Falcon 3.0.

GAMEPLAY

By Orson Scott Card
Copy prctection,

REVIEWS
98

Stacker AT/16,

ProCalc 3D,

JustWrite 1.0,

AcerAnyWare 1120NX,

Software Bridge,

QuickAuthor,

Avery Personal Label Printer,

Conan the Cimmerian,

Howtek Personal Color

Scanner,

PC-Write Standard Level 2.0,

Relisys TEFAX RA-2125,

SCAN:ALIGN,

The Maximizer,

Maximizer Lite,

On the GoFAX,

DiscXchange,

The Secret Codes of

C.Y.PH.F.R.: Operation

Wildlife,

The Lost Admiral,

Desktop Publishing by

Design, and

Monty Python's Flying

Circus.

SEARCHSTAKES

See page 35.

COMPUTE (ISSN Q194-357X) is published monthly in rhe Uniied States and Canada by COMPUTE Publications Internationa! Lid., 1965 Broadway. New York NY 10023-596S Volume 14
Number 5. Issue 141, Copyright © 1992 by COMPUTE Publications International Lid Al rights reserved COMPUTE is a registered trademark of COMPUTE Publications international Ltd'
Printed in the USA by H R, Donnelley & Sons Inc and distnbuted worldmde (except Australia and the UK) by Curtis Circulation Company, RO Box 9102 Pennsauken NJ 081D9 Distriijuled
in Australia by The Horwitz Group. PO Box 306, Cammeray NSW 2062 Australia and in llie UK by Northern and Shell Pic . RO. Box 381 Millharbour London E14 9TW, Second-class postage
paid at New York. NY and at additional mailing olfices, POSTMASTER: Send address changes to COMPUTE Magazine, P.O. Box 3245, Harlan. lA 51537-3041 Tel, (80O) 727-6937 Entire
contents copyrighted All rights reserved. Noihing may be reproduced In whole or in pari wilhout written permission Irom the publisher Subscripliors US AFO - S19 94 one year Canada
and elsewhere -$25.94 one year Single copies %2 95 in US. The publisher disclaims all responsibility to return unsolicited matter, and all righis in ponions published thereof remain the sole
S^^'Sf °J. CO^PLITE PuMicaiions Iniernational Ltd Letters sent to COtwIPLrrE or its ed tors become the property ol the magazine Editorial offices are located at 324 W, Wendnver Ave
Ste. 200, Greenstxiro. NC 27408, Tel (919) 275.9809,

2 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

. ®,

This isn't an ad for a National Geographic Special, an action movie, the

eg)

Discovery Channel or Nintendo. It's an ad for the Sound Blaster Multimedia

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crufr.

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Over $2000 worth of goodies for less than $850.

For more information or the name
of your nearest dealer call

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Easy-to-installinternal CD-RO-M drive. ., ,. „_ , . i ■ i j- ,,. c „,. j . i. », i • j- c in

3 leadmg CD software titles; mcludmg Microsoft Wmdows with Multimedia ExtensiDus 1.0,

Microsoft Bookshelf, Creative Sounds, the Selectware System and Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective.

CREflTIVE UIBS

Outside ol Nam ArrMtica. cal 65-773<B33. (ax: &773-0353 Sound Blaster is a fegrslered Irademark b\ Creative Labs, IntVilndows and Bookshell 3;e resisleted Uadmaiks ol Micrasolt Corporalion. © 1932 Creative Labs. Inc AI rigMs i?seiv8d.

All trade rames reteienced are the service mark, trademark, or regislered trademark ol their respective manufacturer or owner.
Circle Reader Service Njintier 125

EDITORIAL LICENSE

Clifton Karnes

COMPUTE'S editors

are, from left to right,

Clifton Karnes,

David Englisli, Robert Bixby,

and Mike Hudnali.

This issue of COMPUTE is
one of our best yet, and
wliile looking thirough it, I
was impressed again by
what a group effort COM-
PUTE is. Each magazine is
the work of writers, editors,
contributing editors, copy ed-
itors, designers, and produc-
tion people, as well as scores
of administrative, sales, sub-
scription, and circulation per-
sonnel,

Thiis month, I'd like to intro-
duce you to one team from
this group that has a special in-
fluence on each issue — COM-
PUTE'S four editors.

First on the list is David Eng-
lish, COMPUTE'S managing
editor. David has B.A. and
M.A. degrees in English liter-
ature and an M.A, in cinema,
David bought his first comput-
er in 1981, an Apple II, and
he started reading COM-
PUTE, programming in BASIC
and dBASE, and creating syn-
thesized music.

When the Mac came out in
1984, David bought one and

started working with MIDI and
desktop publishing. Soon af-
ter he jotned COMPUTE in
1988, he dived into the PC wa-
ters, buying a laptop and,
shortly after, a 386.

At COMPUTE, David plans
and assigns COMPUTE'S Get-
ting Started With sections and
manages reviews. He also
combines his interest in film,
desktop publishing, and mu-
sic by writing the "Multimedia
PC" column.

Robert Bixby COMPUTE's
features editor, has an M.F.A.
in writing, and he's one of
those unusual people who
can communicate both with
people — via English — and
with computers — via code, In
fact, he fcjought his first com-
puter, a Commodore 64, to
make it easier to write. Soon,
however, he was bewitched
by the machine and writing
programs in assembly lan-
guage himself.

At COMPUTE, Robert
writes "Art Works," a column
that focuses on desktop pub-
lishing, word processing,
graphics, and paint pro-
grams. In addition, he puts
his technical background to
good use by compiling our
popular "Feedback" column,
which answers readers' gener-
al and technical questions,

In addition to his many con-
tributions to COMPUTE,
Robert has published several ar-
ticles in other magazines, in-
cluding Omni, and he's written
a dozen books. His latest pro-
ject is a book on WordPerfect
for Windows macros.

Mike Hudnali is COM-
PUTE's reviews editor. Mike
has a Ph.D. in English, but
like many of us, he became
hool<ed on computers in the
early days. White working on
his Ph.D., he took his first com-
puter course, which used a
DEC PDP-11 minicomputer.
That was in 1981. Soon after,
he began using a CP/M ma-
chine owned by the universi-

ty. When it came time for him
to buy his own PC, he opted
for a Tandy EX, an early MS-
DOS machine. Before long,
he combined his interest in
PCs and technical writing by
freelancing.

Mike joined COMPUTE in
1990. His main responsibility
is managing COMPUTE's
Test Lab, the section of the
magazine that offers compre-
hensive reviews and bench-
marks of selected hardware
and software. Managing Test
Lab demands not only a solid
grasp of the cutting edge of
technology but also ad-
vanced language skills, Mike
has both.

And then there's me. After
completing a master's degree
in music theory, I took a
course in computer program-
ming, mostly out of curiosity
and was hooked. After that, I
took every computer course 1
could find. I've programmed
mainframes, minicomputers,
and micros in a variety of lan-
guages, including C, Pascal,
assembly language, BASIC,
COBOL, and Forth. In 1983, I
bought my first computer, a
Commodore 64, and started
reading COMPUTE and Ga-
zette. In 1986, I bought my
first PC, and I began to write
freelance articles.

I joined COMPUTE Publica-
tions in 1987 and am
currently the magazine's edi-
tor, managing the magazine's
editorial direction and con-
tent. In addition, 1 write "Ed-
itorial License" and "Point &
Click," the latter column ex-
ploring Microsoft Windows.

My latest project is a book
on Microsoft Windows, 101
Essential Windows Tips, for
COMPUTE Books.

So there we are. I hope
you've enjoyed finding out a lit-
tle about COMPUTE's editors.
Next month, you'll have a
chance to tell us something
about yourself, by filling in our
readership survey. □

4 COIVIPUTE JUNE 1992

Introtlucing" tlie New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia^'' witk exciting features for 1992

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Neil Armstrong took a giant leap witn one small step.

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<.m?.

, i

UIT

,ry to describe what util-
ity software is, and even-
tually, you'll come up
— with a definition for
wliat a computer does best:
It makes life easier. So any-
thing can be defined as a
utility, since a computer's
job is to make life easier.
Everyone can use a few PC
utilities for file recovery, pro-
tection, and security — and
to ease the drudgery of us-
ing DOS. Yet PC utilities be-
gan their humble lives as
programmer's tools, de-
signed to simplify repetitive
tasks of the PC elite.

Everything changed in
1982 when one PC entre-
preneur came up with a util-
ity that proved useful to
both programmer and user:
Peter Norton developed his
hallowed UE.COM. the Un-
erase program. It could ac-
tually recover a deleted file —
a file that IBIW. I^icrosoft,
and everyone else claimed
was long dead. Norton pack-
aged Unerase with six other
utilities (which would all
seem silly by today's stan-
dards) and sold them as The
Norton Utilities. Unerase
helped propel Peter Norton in-
to an almost godlike status
among PC users the world
over, and it legitimized tfie util-
ity as a new must-have type
of PC software.

Today, there are dozens
of utilities on the market.
Nothing is sold piecemeal an-
ymore: nearly all the utilities
are packaged in fancy boxes
and work in some type of col-
orful, integrated, mouseable
environment. PC utilities
have become a necessity, a
vital category of software
like word processors, spread-
sheets, and databases. The
scope of what a PC utility is

HERE'S AN IN-DEPTH and does is much broader

LOOK AT TWO CONTENDERS than that of the simple pro-

FOR THE TITLE OF
BEST UTILITY PACKAGE:

THE NORTON
UTILITIES AND PC TOOLS.

BY DAN GOOKIN

grammer's tools of yester-
day, and the power they of-
fer is hundreds of times be-
yond that of a simple speak-
er beeper or file sorter. Utili-
ties are valuable programs
yet easy enougti for every lev-
el of PC user to handle.

Presently, there are two
contenders for the PC-utility
crown: The Norton Utilities,
still going strong after ten
years, and PC Tools. Cen-
tral Point Software's power-
house utility package.
There's no top dog here, so
this article won't attempt to
give away king-ot-the-moun-
tain robes. Instead, my pur-
pose is to examine what
each package does, discuss
the latest versions, and
check on the status of PC util-
ities some ten years after
their introduction.

Basic Features

Ideally, a computer's operat-
ing system should give you
everything you need to run
your computer, productivity
software aside. In that re-
spect, DOS falls short. Us-
ing DOS is like playing base-
ball with only three people to
a team. The job of the PC util-
ity is to fill in the gaps and
let you play a fair game. In
this light, you can say that
PC utilities have two major
purposes: doing things DOS
doesn't do and doing things
DOS already does, but do-
ing them better.

The comparison chart
shows a list of the features
DOS provides plus the en-
hancements offered by the
two top PC-utility packages.
In addition to the Overview,
the table is divided into six ar-
eas: File Management, Direc-

tory Management. Disk Con-
trol. Security. Recovery, and
Productivity. How PC Tools
and The Norton Utilities
deal with each of these are-
as is covered in the next few
sections-

Of course, the most 'miss-
ing" features belong to
DOS. It's worth noting that
earlier versions of DOS had
even fewer utilities (which is
why DOS 5,0 is such a valu-
able upgrade).

ProdutI Overview

Overall, Norton and PC
Tools stack up fairly well,
with PC Tools taking a giant
lead only in the productivity
area. Specifically, each pro-
gram has both command
line and integrated environ-
ments, allowing you to oper-
ate the utilities from every-
thing from a batch file to a
cozy, colorful graphic environ-
ment you can manipulate
with a mouse. Both pro-
grams have online help, and
both come with a handy re-
covery disk you can use
right away if perilous condi-
tions prevailed before you
bought the utility,

Norton falls short right
away by missing several Win-
dows-specific programs that
come bundled with PC
Tools. Yet. PC Toofs eats
up 9.5 megabytes of disk
space — almost four times
what Norton uses. PC Tools
didn't get called the kitchen
sink of utility programs by
shipping on one disk.

File JVIanagement

File management is the abil-
ity to control and manipulate
files beyond the simple com-
mands DOS offers. There
are two ways to approach
this. The first is in an integrat-

^ JUNE 1992 COMPUTE 7

:-^^;SJ

ed environment where files are dis-
played along with commands that can
control them. The second is the tradi-
tional way DOS lets you work with
files, via the command line.

Both DOS and PC Tools come with
shell programs that assist in file manip-
ulation. Both shells let you copy, re-
name, delete, and move files singularly
or in groups. The shells also come
with their own customizable menus, al-
lowing you to install your own pro-
grams into the shell and use it as your
base of operations for the entire time
you're in DOS. In addition to file ma-
nipulation, PC Tools' PC Shell also
acts as control center for the other util-
ities in the PC Tools arsenal.

Norton lacks a file-management
shell. It does, however, sport an integrat-
ed environment. From the environment
you can select utilities, read about their
options, and customize a command
line that the environment can execute for
you. This isn't the same thing, however,
as a file-management shell.

In the area of file tools. The Norton
Utilities lives up to its ten-year reputa-
tion. There are programs to change the
date and time of files, size up files for
copying to a floppy disk, and locate
and modify files anywhere on disk.

One major disappointment with
both utilities is the lack of a move com-
mand, an alternative to copying and de-
leting flies. DOS and PC Tools offer
this in their shells but not as a com-
mand line utility. Norton skips over a
move command completely, which I
find disappointing. Mace Utilities,
which isn't covered in this comparison,
has an excellent move command; see
"And What of fVlace?"

Directory Management

Working with directories isn't as big an
area as file management. Directory
management includes the ability to
change directories, perhaps using
some type of graphic tree structure,
plus the standard tvlD (Make Directory)
and RD (Remove Directory) com-
mands. Extra features include pruning
and grafting, or the ability to cut an en-
tire subdirectory branch and paste it
elsewhere in your hard disk system.

NCD, Norton's version of the CD com-
mand, is a powerful way to change
quickly from one directory to another
without having to type in complex pa-
thnames. But that's it! Norton offers no
grafting or pruning commands, no util-
ity for moving directories, and no unre-
move command for a subdirectory

For Its contribution to directory man-
agement, PC Tools has a separate pro-
gram (DM, the Directory Manager),
and it's very slick. DM shows you your
subdirectory structure in the standard

8 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

tree format, but using only directory
names — no files. To the left of the dis-
play is a histogram showing you the
size of the directory as compared with
the size of other directories on disk.
Extremely large directories are shown
in red. I find this a valuable feature
when working with a subdirectory struc-
ture. But on the downside, to work
with files again, you have to quit DM
and return to PC Shell. Moving back
and forth during major disk surgery
can get tiresome.

Like Norton, Dfy/1 lacks an unremove
directory command. But when you
think about it, unremoving a directory is
trivial: You can't remove a directory in
the first place unless all the files in
that directory have been deleted. How-
ever, having a way to get back at
those files once their directory has
been deleted would be a boon to
overzealous pruners and grafters.

Disk Control

The most traditional disk-control utility
is a sector editor, which has been
around since Peler Norton's original
Disk Editor program. This type of tool al-
lows you to manipulate information any-
where on disk. It's a fun and scary
thing to do, though the practical value
of sector editing is limited when you
consider the range of other disk utilities
available. PC Tools also sports a Disk
Edit tool from within the PC Shell envi-
ronment.

More important than editing disk sec-
tors is defragmentation, or the consoli-
dation of fragmented files that tend to
accumulate on hard drives. This is per-
haps the most important utility that
DOS doesn't offer. PC Tools has its
Compress program, and Norton has
Speed Disk. However, I feel the best
defragmentation program can be
found in Mace Utilities, where the idea
was pioneered; see "And What of
Mace?"

Both packages offer a safe format-
ting program, which was designed to re-
place the old DOS FORMAT com-
mand. However, since DOS 5.0's FOR-
MAT also saves unformat information,
these utilities aren't as vital as they
were before DOS 5.0.

Other interesting disk-control pro-
grams are contained in both packag-
es, including some low-level disk utili-
ties prompted by Steve Gibson's origi-
nal SpinRite disk optimizer, However, I
consider this type of interleave reset
and revitalization program to be more
for show than for any practical pur-
pose. The true value of low-level re-
vitalization is in doubt by many PC ex-
perts, and it's also next to impossible
on some of the newer hard drives with
IDE and SCSI interfaces.

One bonus feature PC Tools has
over Norton is a complete (and power-
ful) backup program: CP Backup,
which is also sold as a separate pack-
age. Norton's backup program, The Nor-
ton Backup, stands toe-to-toe with CP
Backup, but it's only sold as a sepa-
rate package.

Norton comes back punching with
ND0S.COM, a replacement shell for
C0MMAND.COM. Based on J.R Soft-
ware's 4D0S shell, NDOS offers similar
yet more powerful features ideally suit-
ed to the command line DOS user.

Security

This is a new category of PC disk utili-
ty, something nearly as important as
the data-recovery programs. Security
utilities offer protection from disaster be-
fore it strikes.

The main type of security program is
similar to DOS's MIRROR; it makes an
image of the boot sector, FATs, and
root directory and saves it elsewhere
on disk. This aids in recovery from ac-
cidental reformats and allows those vi-
tal parts of the disk to be rebuilt if some-
thing goes wrong. Norton's program is
named Image; PC Tools' is called Mirror.
Microsoft licenses the DOS command

AND WHAT OF MACE?

Up until a short lime ago, there was a
third major contender for the PC-utility
crown: Mace Utilities from Fifth Genera-
tion Systems. Mace is a powerful utility
package and does some things much bet-
ter trian either of the two top dogs. But
one thing it hasn't done is compete
straight across, on a feature-for-feature ba-
sis, with PC Tools or The Norton Utilities.

Mace does have its strengths; the
FRAGCHK. SQZDIR, SORTDIR, and UN-
FRAG utilities provide the best method of
defragmenting a hard drive— far superior
to PC Tools' Compress or Norton's Speed-
Disk. Mace's other assorted utilities are
strong and have merit, so if defrag-
menting is all you need, then Mace Util-
ities makes an excellent choice. Overall,
however. Mace lacks the complete bag
of tricks of the other two packages.

Presently, Mace Utilities is under re-
view by Fifth Generation Systems,
which hopefully means we'll see a big-
ger, better, and more powerful version of
the program in the future. The current ver-
sion continues to sell for $149, with vari-
ous pieces of the program sold individ-
ually lor less. If future versions maintain
Mace's Hair for methodical and thorough
utilities, then it will once again compete
for the top spot.

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MIRROR from Central Point Software.

Another form of security is file encryp-
tion. Botfi Norton and PC Tools offer a
way of taking tfie data in one or more
files and secretly encoding it. The only
way to decode the file is by using a
password or code key. PC Tools takes
this concept one step further and al-
lows you to create encryption direc-
tories; all files placed in those directo-
ries are automatically encrypted, and
access to the directories is only possi-
ble by password.

In the era of the computer virus,
antivirus utilities are popular. Both
Symantec and Central Point Software
distribute their own antivirus programs.
However, only PC Tools comes with a
virus-scanning utility, Vdefend. While it
will locate some viruses, it does little in
the way of removing them (other than
recommending you buy Central
Point's other virus-specific software).

More important than direct virus de-
tection, both utilities offer special disk-
locking utilities that prevent unauthor-
ized access to sensitive areas of the

THE DOWN-AND-DIRTY

ON UNDELETING

Just exactly what kind of mojo is involved
with undeleting a file? What Frankenstein-
like science is required to bring a dead
file back to life? The secret to undeleting
a file lies in DOS's laziness.

DOS deletes a file like you would re-
move someone's name from your ad-
dress book: Ttie person is still alive and
probably lives at the same address, but
your record of them is gone. DOS de-
letes files in a similar manner: It goes to
the disk directory and replaces the first
character of the filename with an l-am-
deleted byte. Further, it marks the file's
location on disk as available in the
disk's map (or FAT). Again, only one
byte is changed.

The reason why DOS deletes files this
way is speed. Changing two bytes is
quicker than going out to the disk and rub-
bing the file out. Yet the side effect of
this method is that the file's contents on
disk are still intact. A recovery utility
needs only to change the l-am-deleted
byte in the directory back to the first let-
ter of the file's name and then change the
l-am-available byte in the FAT to an l-am-
occupied byte. Once that happens, the
tile is restored.

While the above discussion makes
undeleting a file sound easy, the tech-
nomagic required is more complex. A lot
of things can mess up file recovery The
most deadly event is when some other
file overwrites all or part of the deleted
file's data on disk. Smart recovery pro-
grams can detect this and will refuse to
restore the file. However, as long as
you undelete files before any other files
are written lo disk, you can safely recov-
er anything.

disk. Norton's Disk Monitor and PC
Tools' Data Monitor aliow you to lock
out all or some sectors of a hard drive,
preventing access or just monitoring
sensitive areas of the disk that
shouldn't be touched. For most users,
this type of protection from viruses
(and other nasty programs) will be
enough.

Dr. Disaster

PC utilities were given birth by Peter
Norton's Unerase program. Both utility
packages — and now DOS — offer un-
delete and unformat commands. PC
Tools has Undel, and Norton still re-
tains Unerase after all these years (see
"The Down-and-Dirty on Undeleting").
And thanks to the disk-imaging pro-
granns (Mirror and Image), recovery of
a disk's boot sector, FAT, and root di-
rectory is also possible.

Both Norton and PC Tools also
have unformatting utilities, which is no
longer a big thing, since the UNFOR-
MAT command is now a part of DOS's
data-recovery repertoire. This is all
traditional stuff — no new bugs under
big rocks here. What is unique to both
The Norton Utilities and PC Tools is
their new array of file-recovery, delete-
prevention, disaster-prevention utilities.
This is a special type of program that
stores the files DOS deletes in special
directories. Recovery is then 100-per-
cent guaranteed by simply plucking
the deleted file out of the special direc-
tory. The Norton Utilities uses the Erase
Protect program to pull that trick; PC
Tools has Disk Monitor.

Individual files can always go
south, as anyone who's worked with
too large a spreadsheet or database
discovers. Both PC Tools and Norton of-
fer programs to repair errant data files
for 1-2-3, dBASE, and other popular
formats. Both programs are called File
Fix, and both will attempt to patch up
the same types of files.

When bytes start fleeing from a troub-
lesome disk, you can use PC Tools'
DiskFix program to diagnose and re-
pair the problem. The Norton Utilities us-
es The Norton Disk Doctor for diagno-
sis, as well as a wonderfully crafted
(though technical) Troubleshooting
Guide plus the Disk Tools utilities to
eventually remedy the problem.

Five A[l-Purpose Hard Disk Tools

In each package, you'll find several in-
teresting, integrated utilities whose pur-
poses seem to overlap. This appears to
be the approach for disk utilities of the
future: one piece of software that deals
with several related areas of data pro-
tection, diagnosis, and recovery. Be-
tween PC Tools and The Norton Utilities,
five individual programs handle those du-

ties: DiskFix, Data Monitor, Disk Monitor,
Disk Doctor, and Disk Tools.

For example, PC Tools' DiskFix han-
dles repair and disk-tuning options,
while the Data Monitor program covers
delete prevention, password-locking
and encrypting of files in a directory,
write-protecting sensitive parts of a
disk, and other assorted duties.

The Norton Utilities' Disk Monitor
will restrict access to sensitive areas of
the disk, park your disk drive heads,
and monitor other types of disk ac-
cess. Disk Doctor is used to diagnose
disk problems, and then Disk Tools
will repair them, as well as perform oth-
er interesting duties.

I find this division of duties confus-
ing— and not just from looking a! live dif-
ferent programs that handle several doz-
en overlapping functions. A single inte-
grated program for either PC Tools or
The Norton Utilities would make more
sense. Either that, or split up the duties
into several dozen individual utilities.
Given the bulk of PC Tools and The Nor-
ton Utilities, it would be easy to miss

THE BLACK MAGIC OF
UNFORMATTING A DISK

While undeleting files met with miracu-
lous acclaim back in 1983, unformatting
a disk met with stunned disbelief only a
few years later. Like recovering a delet-
ed file, restoring a freshly formatted disk
seemed unbelievable. Yet with DOS's la-
zy FORMAT command accidentally eras-
ing hard drives right and left, an unfor-
mat utility was sorely needed and a
great success.

Unformatting a disk is possible be-
cause, as with deleting a file, DOS is rath-
er lazy. Basically, when DOS sees a
disk is already formatted, it oniy erases
its first track and creates a new boot sec-
tor, root directory, and two disk maps (or
FATs). The remainder of the disk— with
its data still intact — is only verified. DOS
5.0's QuickFormat option even skips the
verification stage.

An unformatting program looks for the
earmarks of subdirectories on a reformat-
ted disk. It then attempts to rebuild the
root directory and FAT as it locates the
files in those subdirectories. As long as
the bulk of the reformatted disk's data
was in subdirectories, full recovery is pos-
sible. However, any files in the root direc-
tory are generally lost.

To augment recovery, many unformat-
ting utilities come with a disk-imaging pro-
gram, such as DOS 5.0's MIRROR, PC
Tools' Mirror, and hJorton's Image.
Those programs copy the boot sector,
root directory, and FATs and place
them in special image files near the end
of the disk. Then, if you need to unformat
a disk, the unformat utility will check for
the image file hidden on the disk. H it's
found, recovery is nearly instantaneous
and complete.

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the valuable features offered in these
handy little programs, so a new ap-
proach is bound to benefit all users.

Productivity

Productivity utilities are almost totally
the domain of PC Tools. Its PC Desk-
top program could stand by itself,
right next to Borland's Sidekick. Yet Cen-
tral Point Software has graciously includ-
ed it with the PC Tools package.

PC Desktop features an appointment
calendar, an autodialer, calculators, a da-
tabase, notepads, and an outliner. A clip-
board allows global cutting and pasting,
and a general macro facility helps you
customize PC Desktop.

Beyond the basic features of PC
Desktop, you'll find extensive commu-
nications programs in various areas of
the PC Tools program:

DeskConnect is a desktop-laptop
communications program that is able
to access files on one computer from
another and exchange files between
two computers (the second computer
doesn't need to be a laptop).

Commute is a PC remote-control pro-
gram, allowing you to access and use
a computer at another location via mo-
dem. What you see on your screen is
exactly what appears on the remote
PC's screen. You can have password
protection and host callback, and even
monitor remote log-ins.

f\/lodem communications and elec-
tronic mail are both features of the PC
Desktop telecommunications module.
Modem communications allows you to
dial up any other PC connected to a mo-
dem. The electronic-mail module pro-
vides an easy link to fvlCI Mail, Compu-
Serve, and EasyLink online services.
You must have a compatible modem
to make this possible.

PC Desktop is also capable of han-
dling fax communications. To do this,
your system must have a compatible
internal fax card.

With The Norton Utilities, productivity
enhancement is provided in two areas:
the Batch Enhancer, which adds more
power to your batch files, and The Nor-
ton Corttrol Center, where you can mon-
itor and adjust various hardware settings
and control your DOS environment, PC
Tools lacks both of these features.

On the other hand, both packages
have a system information utility. It dis-
plays a profile of your PC's hardware
contents, plus it does benchmark test-
ing and a wee bit of diagnosis. It's most-
ly for show.

Which Utility Do You Need?

I find it hard to argue against having
PC Tools. It's actually four programs in
one: a general package of utilities, a
file manager, a backup program, plus

UTILITIES COMPARISON CHART

Feature

DOS 5.0

Norton

PC Tools

Overview

Command line control

Yes

Integrated environment

Yes

Windows-specific programs

No'

Yes2

Online help

Yes

Mouse support

Yes

Graphic look

Yes

Recovery disk

Yes

Size on disk

1.5MB

2.5MB

9.5MB

File Management

Shell program

DOS Shell

PC Stiell

Application menu

Yes"

—

Yes

Copy/Delete/Rename

Yes

—

Yes

Move command

Shell only

—

Shell only

Date stamping

—

File Date

Yes

File attributes

ATTRIB

File Attributes

Yes

nie compression

—

PC Securei^

File finder (with changes)

—

File Find

File locator

DIR/S

File Locate

File Find

File printing

Line Print

Yes

File sorting

—

Directory Sort

Shell only

File sizing

—

File Size

—

File viewing

TYPE

—

View

File wiping

—

Wipelnfo

Wipe

Directory Management

Shell program

—

— 3

Ctiange directory

NOD

Shell only

Create directory

—

Shell only

Prune and graft directory

—

Shell only

Rename directory

Stiell only

—

Shell only

Remove directory

—

Shell only

Disk Control

Backup and archiving

BACKUP

CP Backup

Command interpreter

COMMAND

NDOS

—

Defragmentation

—

Speed Disk

Compress

Disk cache

SMARTDfive

Norton Cache

—

Low-level revitalizalion

—

Calibrate

DiskFix

Interleave reset

—

Calibrate

DiskFix

Park program

—

Disk Monitor

Park

Safe formatting

FORMAT^

Safe Format

PC Format

Sector editing

DEBUQio

Disk Editor

Shell only

Security

Boot/FAT/Root protection

MIRROR

Image

Mirror

Directory password

—

Data Monitor

File encryption

—

Diskreet

PC Secure

Sector pfolection

—

Disk Monitor

Data Monitor

Virus detection

—

Vdefend

Virus removai

—

Recovery

1-2-3 repair

—

File Fix

dBASE repair

—

File Fix

General file repair

REC0VER12

—

Delete prevention

MIRROR

Erase Protect

Data Monitor

Diagnostic tools

—

Disk Doctor

DiskFix

Disk repair

—

Disk Tools

DiskFix

FAT recovery

MIRROR

Disk Tools

DiskFix

Undelete

UNDELETE

Unerase

Undel

Unformat

UNFORMAT

Unformat

Unremove directory

—

Productivity

Appointment calendar

—

in PC Desktop

Autodialer

—

in PC Desktop

Batch file enhancement

—

Batcti Enhancer

—

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UTILITIES COMPARISON CHART (continued)

Feature

DOS 5.0

Norton

PC Tools

Calculator

Change hardware settings

Clipboard

Communications

Database

Fax support

Macros

Notepad

Outliner

System information

Text locater

Control Center

System
Information
Text Search

in PC Desktop

in PC Desktop
in PC Desktop"
in PC Desktop
in PC Desktop
in PC Desktop
in PC Desktop
in PC Desktop
System
Information
Shefl only

'The Norton Utilities does come with icons for some programs.

^Backup, Undelete, and a special control-menu program launcher.

^A separate product, The Norton Commander, contains file and directory shells.

■•in DOS Shell.

^DOS has a file-expansion program, EXPAND, but no companion COMPACT utility.

^Only compresses files as they're encrypted.

'Can be done in the shell after using File Find.

'The Norton Backup is sold as a separate product.

^FORMAT automatically saves unformat information on every disk reformatted.

lOQEBUG can load a sector into memory, allow you to edit that memory, and then write
it back to disk. It's inelegant, but functional.

"Disk Monitor will prevent a virus from writing to some parts of a disk, but it doesn't
actively scan for infection.

'^RECOVER is a disaster. Though it's advertised as a file and disk repair program, I strong-
ly advise against its use. In fact, Norton's Disk Tool will help you recover from using DOS's
RECOVER command.
'^The Norton Commander comes with Command iVIail, a link to MCI Mail.

'*PC Desktop offers extensive communications capabilities, including access to MCI
Mail. Laptop/desktop and remote PC communications are also available through other
PC Tools utilities.

the PC Desktop program with its pro-
ductivity features.

On the downside, the program is
overwhelming. I doubt if any one user
will ever master the complete package,
and books on PC Tools are fat and in-
timidating, You could make it a lifelong
endeavor to say you've used every-
thing in the package (which has often
been the case with other major appli-
cations as well).

Comparatively speaking, you'd
need to buy The Norton Utilities plus
The Norton Backup and The Norton
Commander even to start comparing
the packages across the board. (This
stems from Symantec's view of PC
Tools as an end-user product and its
outdated and stubborn insistence that
end users don't buy programs.) For ba-
sic utility needs, however, Norton
more than fills the bill. If you don't
want the bulk of PC Tools and don't
need CP Backup or the productivity util-
ities of PC Desktop, then The Norton
Utilities is a slimmer choice.

Another basis for your decision is
whether or not you feel comfortable
working inside a file-management

14 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

shell. If so, then PC Tools will probably
be your choice. If you prefer the DOS
command line, then Norton is for you —
especially given the inclusion of
NDOS to replace C0MMAND.COM.
There's also a third option: As the scare-
crow says to Dorothy in The Wizard of
Oz. "Some people do go both ways,"
Personally. I use Norton on my desktop
machine and PC Tools on my laptop.

Whichever utility you choose, PC util-
ities have grown in power and ability
over the last ten years. And the bottom
line is that there are plenty of options
for any PC user looking to enhance
DOS with some utility power. G

PRODUCT LIST

PC Tools— $179

Central Point Software

15220 NW Greenbrier Pkwy., Ste. 200

Beaverton, OR 97006

(503) 690-8090

The Norton Utilities— $179
Symantec
10201 Torre Ave.
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 253-9600

DOS 5.0'S UTILITIES

What makes DOS 5.0 such a remarkable
upgrade is its arsenal of new features,
including MIRROR, UNDELETE, and
UNFORMAT— utilities formerly available
only from third parties that are now com-
mands under DOS. With those three pro-
grams, DOS can now be both the hero
and the villain.

Along with its disaster-prevention and
data-recovery utilities, DOS also sports oth-
er new commands that were formerly the
exclusive domain of third-party utilities,

Help! Since day one, DOS help utili-
ties have been avaiiable, giving users on-
line access to the DOS manual, com-
mand syntax, and options. Now that's alt
a part of DOS with the HELP command
plus tile optional / ? switch on all other
major DOS commands.

The DOS Shell program gives all DOS
users a comfortable, graphic, and mousea-
ble environment in which to manipulate
files and directories, work with dis!<s, run
programs from a menu, and switch be-
tween several programs stored {but not
running) in memory at once. This pits
DOS head-to-head with such program
swappers as Software Carousel and
DESQview, as well as fite/shell programs
like XTree and PC Tools' Shell,

The HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.SYS
configuration commands — plus DE-
VICEHIGH and LOADHIGH— are all now
a part of DOS's memory-management
skills. While not as advanced as some
third-party packages, DOS's memory-
management drivers and commands
will give 386 owners more RAM in which
to run DOS programs plus control for
both extended and expanded memory,

Though DOS has always come with
RAM-drive software, only with version 5.0
did Microsoft start tossing in a disk
cache. The SMARTDRV.SYS software
gives DOS users greater ability to
speed up disk operations than the old
FASTOPEN command.

Extensive command line editing, his-
tory, and macros are now possible,
thanks to DOSKEY

DOS 5.0 also upgraded the version of
BASIC shipped with DOS. GW-BASIC is
now just a REM in the history books and
has been replaced by QBAStC, an inter-
preted version of Microsoft's QuickBA-
SIC compiler.

Along with QBASIC comes DOS's new
EDIT program. EDIT is much better than
the old EDLiN, yet interestingly it's an el-
ement of ttie QBASIC program. Third-
party editors are more diverse and also
more compact, since running EDIT re-
quires the 250K QBASIC.EXE program.

If DOS continues to grow at this level,
future versions may contain even more
diverse utilities. On the must-have list
are a defragmentation utility, better back-
up and restore, password protection
and file security, and a disk doubler or
file-compacting program. With those
features — and possibly more — DOS
may soon become a complete operating
environment.

llliKtraiion creitcd *irii MicrogralH DcsijcntT'". and prirJed b\ iht- tjii?xTi uSX-i-iO PLUS jxinttTwith nptional Color On O^nnund

The GSX-140 PLUS.

Not All Dot Matrix Printers Are For The Birds

Creating color this brilliant will ruffle the feathers of most
printers. It deinands 360x360 dot-per-inch resolution. Plus
the ability to control both color density and saturation.
Now you can have both. Affordably. Even when running
Microsoft^' Windows'". All you need is Citizen's new 24-
wire GSX-140 PLUS printer and its exclusive, user-
installed option, Color on Command™. With vivid bursts of
color, your spreadsheets can be easier to read, your
graphics easier to understand, and your presen
tations all the more brilliant.

The GSX-140 PLUS is fully compatible
with software applications run by MS-DOS^.
Available at no extra cost, a special printer
driver assures optimum performance with

Windows. Using the latest color saturation control technology,
the GSX-140 PLUS prints true, bright, accurate WYSIWYG
colors at high resolutions.

Whether printing in monochrome or color, the GSX-140
PLUS is easy to use, too, thanks to Citizen's Command-Vue™
control panel with plain English prompts. A quick menu
offers instant access to the printer settings you change most
often. And it even remembers your four favorite appli-
cations, setting them up the way you want whenever
you use them.

So take a look at Citizen's GSX-140 PLUS
today. For the name of your nearest dealer,
> call 1-800-4-PRlNTERS.

aCITIZEN

© 1991 Qtiien America Cnrjqroribon. Citizen, a>!i)r(fl ComiTLmd, Comma nd-lilir jnd iht Ciiizen Loso in: Iiadcmarks nf the Citiit-n Wtrch Co lid
MKTtxioft and WirtOows are tradcnurtcs of Mjcrostrit Corponiioi^. Micfografs \s a re^^crcd tradeniaifc, and Mittu^jfx Designer is a tradcnurkof MicTOgrafet. Inc.

Clfvie Reader Servtca Kumbef 166

■■;.«p"-77';^/

"^ C''\

-^'jryiO

'oil rljF^y'yw^.^'yVKA^Tcrl^

It works for beginners
as well as experts.

It helps manage complex systems \vith
ease. And no matter how hard you try, you
can't exhaust its potential.

In many ways, it's a lot like CompuServe.

If you're a beginner at interactive com-
puter services, we've got what you're looking for.

Late-breaking news, stock quotes and financial
data, travel information and reservations, enter-
tainment and games, a complete encyclopedia,
and more. And we make it simple, with on-screen
menus, a handy index, and free time to sharpen
your online skills.

For the experienced user and the computer
professional, we feature hardware and software
support, special- interest forums, lots of free soft-
ware and shareware, a wealth of online computer

'K'^A/ ]'^

expertise, and sophisticated research tools.
In fact, no computer service offers the number
and qualit)' of choices that CompuServe does.

Now, for just $7.95 a month, and a one-
time membership fee, you get all the basics as
often as you like: news, sports, weather, shop-
ping, a complete encyclopedia, and much more,
plus up to 60 E-mail messages a month. And,
there are lots of other valuable services available
on a nominal pay-as-you-use basis.

Whether you're a beginner or an
expert, to make the right choice in selecting
an interactive service, just use your brain.
Pick CompuServe. For more information
or to order, see your computer dealer or call
1 800 848-8199. Outside the United States,
call 614 457-0802.

CompuServe*

The information service you won't outgrow.

circle Reader Service Number 103

TEST LAB

Increasing power, decreasing
size— that's tine direction of to-
day's computer industry. And
for today's computer enthiusi-
ast, the trend has proved a tremen-
dous boon to productivity and
convenience. Now you can write
that winning proposal while sitting
on your sofa, in a plane, or by the
lake. Word processing, spread-
sheets, and personal information
management — even in Win-
dows—are as close as your brief-
case, thanks to the lower prices
and higher technology of today's
notebooks. It's no wonder that
portable computing, one of the
fastest-growing segments of the
computer market, is also one of
the most rapidly changing and
closely watched segments.

It should come as no surprise,
then, that hardware manufacturers
have scrambled to provide a line
of downsized peripherals for use
with your notebook. This month,
Test Lab focuses on two catego-
ries of portable peripherals — print-
ers and communication devices.

Portable printers are great for
producing hardcopy at remote lo-
cations, such as a construction
site or summer cabin, as well as
for making last-minute changes
in a document when you're on the
go and don't have access to a reg-
ular printer. The four printers we
cover this month offer versatility;
high quality; and, of course, tre-
mendous convenience.

The five portable communica-
tion devices examined this
month really let you unleash the
power of your portable, whether
you're uploading and download-
ing files, sending electronic mail,
checking news and weather with
your online service, or sending
and receiving faxes.

This month's Test Lab provides
the facts, figures, explanations,
and analysis you'll need to in-
crease your understanding of
these new technologies and
make a more informed buying de-
cision. Ready to increase your port-
able productivity? Then read on.

MIKE HUDNALL

18 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

BROTHER INTERNATIONAL
200 Conontall Ln.
Somerset, NJ 0B875
(508) 356-8880
List price: $49S.95t

BROTHER HJ-lOOi

What weighs four pounds, packs
easily inside an average attache
case, operates almost silently, and
can produce page after page of
consistently high-quality text and
graphics? If you answered the
Brother HJ-100i Portable Inkjet
Printer, you're absolutely right.

The putty-colored portable
measures a scant 12'/i inches
wide by &V2 inches deep by 2
inches thick, making it the perfect
traveling companion for a note-
book or laptop computer. A piv-
oting support stand, located at
the rear of the printer's case, swiv-
els out to hold the printer in an up-
right position when it's in use.

A solid performer, the Brother
HJ-IOOi prints text in either LQ or
NLQ modes at a steady 83-cps
rate. The difference between
these two modes is the density of
the printed characters and amount
of ink consumed. LQ mode gen-
erates black, well-defined charac-
ters and yields about 700,000 char-
acters per cartridge. NLQ mode
produces a less dense concentra-
tion of ink, giving you a gray (rath-
er than black) image: however, it's
much more economical, yielding
approximately 1,400,000 charac-
ters per cartridge.

An optional ni-cad battery
pack can power this printer if you
choose to use it while traveling.
In more stationary environments,
the included AC adapter pro-
vides the power.

Controls for the HJ-IOOi— the
soft-touch variety — are located at
the front of the printer; embedded
LED indicators keep you apprised
of the printer's status. An internal-
ly mounted bank of 1 1 DIP switch-
es lets you change the default val-
ues of the printer, such as paper
size, normal or high-density cfiar-
acters, and mode selection.

Installing an ink cartridge in the
Brother HJ-IOOi is a painless pro-
cedure best described as drop
and click. You simply drop the
replacement cartridge into the car-
tridge carrier and click the lock-
ing lever forward.

Three control modes on the HJ-
IOOi allow you to vary graphic ca-
pabilities and emulations. In
Mode 1 the HJ-IOOi emulates the
IBM X24E series of printers, fvlode
2 is the native HJ-100 mode, and
Mode 3 provides Epson LQ emu-
lations. A prioritized hierarchy for
each mode gives you access to var-
ious mode subsets, For example,
when the HJ-IOOi is in Mode 3 (Ep-
son LQ), it will emulate the Epson
LQ model 510, 850, 500, 2550, or
800 in that order of priority by sens-
ing the control signals sent by the
host PC. If no LQ driver appears
in your applications printer-selec-
tion menu, the HJ-IOOi will use Ep-
son FX or MX draft-quality print driv-
ers instead. This prioritized em-
ulation scheme provides a lot of flex-
ibility in configuring the HJ-IOOi for
virtually any application.

Print quality of the unit is excel-

tStreet prices for hardware units ap-
pearing in Test Lab are usually signif-
icantly lower than list prices.

lent in the LQ mode and very
good in the NLQ mode as well.
Since the print mechanism uses
jets of ink deposited by a cartridge
that glides from side to side along
a screw-type carriage, the unit is
all but silent in operation.

It's a joy to set up and use the
Brother HJ-IOOi, thanks to a super
user's manual that details every-
thing you need (or could possibly
want) to know about the printer —
in English, French, and German.

Everything about the HJ-IOOi
is top-drawer — it's attractive, qui-
et, quick, small, and light. In
short, it's a winner.

TOM BENFORD

circle Reader Service Number 304

CANON BJ-10EX

Canon caused a sensation a
couple of years back when it intro-
duced the BJ-lOe, an easily trans-
portable device capable of output-
ting high-quality text and graphics. ,
This mighty mite made the
dream of a truly portable office a
reality. Not content to rest on
their laurels, the Canon folks
have endeavored to make a
good thing even better. And
they've succeeded — the new
model is called the BJ-IOex.

Cosmetically, the BJ-IOex is a
dead ringer for its predecessor,
with the bulk of changes confined
to extended firmware (for exam-
ple, more DIP switches and emu-
lation modes) and improved elec-
tronics (with, for example, one
component replacing two or
three), Aside from the xat the end
of the name, the BJ-lOe and BJ-
IOex appear identical when
viewed next to each other.

The BJ-IOex is the popular note-
book size (12.2 inches x 8.5 inch-
es X 0.9 inches), and at about
four pounds, it's easy to pack
along in a laptop's carrying case
or in an attache. A snap-on plas-
tic cap keeps foreign matter out
of the parallel interface port,
found at the right side of the ma-
chine near the front.

Using a 64-nozzle bubble-jet

CANON U.S.A.

1 Canon Plaza

Lake Success, NY 11042

(800) 848-4123

Lis! price: $499

printhead, the BJ-10ex can out-
put text at 83 characters per sec-
ond in either high-quality mode or
economy mode. The difference
between these two modes is the
amount of ink consumed and the
quality of the output. Economy
mode produces a semifilled char-
acter that appears gray rather
than black, while high-quality
mode generates well-defined sol-
id biack output. Economy mode
yields about 1.4 miliion characters
before the cartridge is spent; high-
quality mode will deliver only
about half as many before you
need to replace the cartridge.

Three emulations come with
the BJ-IOex to facilitate configur-
ing it to work with all major soft-
ware packages, fvlode 1 is the
IBIvl X24E emulation; fVlode 2 pro-
vides Canon BJ-130e emulation;
and Mode 3, also called LQ
mode, provides Epson LQ-510
emulation. Setting the emulation
mode involves changing the set-
tings of switches 10 and 11 in a
cluster of 11 DIP switches locat-
ed under the front cover of the
printer. (The original BJ-10e had
only 10 switches.)

This bank of DIP switches also
controls other configuration par-
ameters, including page lengths
of 11 or 12 inches, normal or high-
density print modes, and ready-
ing the unit to work with the op-
tional automatic sheet feeder.

Print quality in high-quality
mode is quite good regardless of
which emuiation you use; when
you use a font package like
Bitstream's Facelift for Windows,
it's almost as good as the output
of a laser printer. The Epson LQ

emulation provides probably the
greatest versatility of the three
available modes, since practical-
ly every software package sold
supports the Epson standard.

An optional ni-cad battery pack
is available for users who want to-
tal freedom from AC power, and
there's also an optional sheet feed-
er which automates the printing of
multipage documents.

Canon has indeed succeeded
in topping its own personal best
with the BJ-IOex.

TOM BENFOHD

Circle Reader Service Number 305

CITIZEN PN48

Compact. Lightweight. Indisputa-
bly portable. Undeniably a per-
former. The 2'/2-pound Citizen
PN48 makes good on the prom-
ise of the mobile office. Whether
in a hotel room or in the air, this
printer can make your documents
look almost like they came off a
laser printer— it's that good. And
when you're packing for that ex-
tended road trip, you can
squeeze the PN48 into your brief-
case next to your notebook com-
puter— it's that small.

If you're looking for the trade-
offs, the good news is that there
aren't many. You won't have a
sheet feeder, but the PN4B offers
two paper paths (from the rear or
bottom) that work smoothly with
almost any kind of paper and en-
velopes, in widths from 3.5 inch-
es to 10.2 inches. Ifyou're design-
ing last-minute changes to your
presentation at 27,000 feet, the

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE 19

TEST LAB

PN48 will also handle high-quality
transparencies. Loading is simple,
smooth, and flawless. Paper jams
just weren't a problem for me.

Print quality is a trade-off, but
it's a small one. Since Canon
introduced its bubble-jel portable
two years ago, several manufac-
turers have worked to improve
the print quality of portable print-
ers. Citizen achieves very clear
and distinct type with the PN48,
although you may experience
some slight variation in tone. Over-
all, however, the quality of the
print so far outdistances that usu-
ally associated with portable print-
ers as to make these slight varia-
tions negligible. It you do experi-
ence problems, experiment with
different kinds of paper, as paper
quality will affect print quality.

The PN48 offers IBM and Ep-
son emulations, A Windows driv-
er is available from Citizen's on-
line support bulletin board sys-
tem. The drop-in ink cartridges
come in two varieties: a single-
strike cartridge (best-qualit/ print)
that you can use only once and a
multistrike cartridge (lower-quality
print) that can be turned over and
used again. The multistrike car-
tridge should be good for 100,000
characters, or between 50 and 70
ASCII pages. The single-strike car-
tridge yields 35,000 characters, or
about 20 to 25 ASCII pages.

A rechargeable ni-cad battery

CITIZEN AMERICA

P.O. Box 4003

Santa IVlonica, CA 90411-4003

(800) 477-4683

List price: $549 (or Professional

System with rechargeable battery,

$469 lor Standard System without

battery

provides true portability and
adds little weight to the unit. Citi-
zen claims that a full charge is
enough to print about 20 to 25 dou-
ble-spaced pages of text. Charg-
ing a completely empty battery
takes about six hours.

The PN48 can't be considered
a substitute for a desktop printer,
except perhaps by executives
who don't want to be seen print-
ing documents they've prepared
themselves. (In this case. Citi-
zen's brick-size printer will easily
fit into the top drawer of the desk,
out of sight.) For the salesperson
who needs to update and print or-
ders and contracts while meeting
with clients or for other special-
ized fieldworkers requiring ac-
cess to a printer, the PN48
makes a lot of sense. The price,
while not insubstantial, is well met
by performance and reliability.
When you're on the road, those
are qualities that you shouldn't
have to sacrifice.
PETER scisco

circle Reader Service Number 306

HAVES MICROCOMPUTER

PRODUCTS

5835 Peachtree Coriiers E

Norcross, GA 30092-3405

(404) 441-1617

List price: $179

HAYES POCKET
EDITION 2400
MODEIVl

A perfect addition to the portable
computer user's ensemble, the
Hayes Pocket Edition 2400 car-
ries on the Hayes tradition of high-
quality, industry-standard data-
communications devices.

Measuring a demure 3 x 2 x
'/s inches, the Pocket Edition is a
fully functional 2400-baud exter-
nal device complete with built-in
9-pin serial cable, six-foot phone
cord, and Smartcom EZ commu-
nications software. The Smart-
com EZ software, a bare-bones
terminal program, allows for
such things as file transfers under
the standard XfvlODEM protocol
and is accessed through a friend-
ly menu system; however, it
lacks many of the features avail-
able in more sophisticated termi-
nal packages — features like mul-
tiple-transfer protocol selections
and mini-BBS functions. Because
it's a genuine Hayes, however,
the Pocket Edition 2400 will work
with any software that supports
the nearly universal Hayes AT
command set,

Installing the Pocket Edition
requires nothing more than plug-
ging in the serial and phone ca-
bles and loading the Smartcom
EZ software via an automated in-
stallation program. Hayes
couldn't have made the installa-
tion and setup simpler than this.

The documentation supplied
with the modem is clear and sim-
ple to follow, Hayes makes no
assumptions about the user's
knowledge or prior experience

Power Moves. Hot Paint Wild
Spins and Super Sound.

AiumaiioH

Scanned Images

PC Animate Plus™ for polished, professional
presentations. Only $199.95

Put Your Project In Motion.

Get your act moving, fast. PC Animate Plus
contains all the tools you need to create a
knockout presentation - paint, 2D anima-
tion, graphics, special effects, and synchro-
nized sound,

Paint beautiful pictures in any resolution.
Animate your own cartoons or graphics
from other sources. Title home videos.
Create brilliant business presentations.
Produce your own music videos. Explore the
depths of your imagination. It's never been
easier.

Rexibility Matches Power.
PC Animate Plus was designed for simplic-
ity. Simple to create, simple to change, and
simple to use. The dropdown menus make it
immediately usable. The manual was written

All names of companies and products as they appear are the rcgisleted trademarks and'or trade names of the respeclive companies.

for quick reference. And the program's
flexibihty is unequalled in any resolution -
fonvard or backward. PC Animate Plus
supports the most popular sound card
(Sound Blaster'" compatible), converts
Autodesk .FLI files for compatibility,
supports EGA, VGA, and VESA (super
and ultra VGA), up to 1280 x 1024 with 256
colors, as well 32,000 color formats. And. it
reads or writes GIF,
PCX and TIFF
picture formats.
Power and Depth.
Special effects -
color, pixel, palette,
frame, and sound -
turn your PC into a
complete art and

animation department. Give 2D the look of
3D, Move images over easily defined paths.
Change colors and apply textures as the
image moves. Alter your image with effects
like shatter, defocus, ripple and more.
There you have it, PC Animate Plus. It's
practical and affordable. Plus, it's great fun.

160 Knowles Drive, l.os Gatos, CA 95030
(800)451-0900 (outside CA)
{408)378-3838 (inside CA)
(4()S)37S-3.<.77 (fas)

circle Reader Service Number 164

TEST LAB

with modems and terminal soft-
ware, and ttie manuai provides
more than adequate Inandhiolding.

The Pocket Edition 2400 is
unique in that it doesn't require a
battery or AC power supply to op-
erate like other pocket modems;
it draws its operating voltage di-
rectly from the computer's +5-
volt power-supply pin on the seri-
al port. This eliminates the need
to pack and carry an AC transform-
er or worry about whether your
nine-volt battery is fresh.

The Pocket Edition 2400 is a nat-
ural traveling companion for use
with portable computers, and it
comes with a small zippered car-
rying bag for stowing it during trav-
el. The black bag, with Hayes Pock-
et Edition ^400 emblazoned on the

side, even has a loop on the back
for belt attachment.

Such small size dictates elimi-
nating some features regarded
as standard on full-size mo-
dems— internal speakers and stat-
us-indicator lights, for example.
Traditionally, speakers and indi-
cators on modems allow ready
access to the modem's status dur-
ing transmission and provide an
accurate means of error detec-
tion during problematic transfers.

A modem's speaker lets you
know if a connection has been
made, if a line is busy, or if you've
dialed a wrong number. Without
the speaker, you must rely on the
terminal software. The bundled soft-
ware, while it handles rudimentary
communications, doesn't monitor

connection conditions as well as
some third-party packages do.

Ideal for portable use and also
quite serviceable for desktop us-
ers with limited space, the Hayes
Pocket Edition 2400 delivers plen-
ty of features and performance in
a pint-size package.

TOM EENFORD

Circle Reader Service Number 307

All Benchmark/Performance Test-
ing is conducted by Computer Prod-
uct Testing Services (CPTS), an
independent testing and evalua-
tion laboratory based in Ma-
nasquan. New Jersey. Every effort
tias been made to ensure the ac-
curacy and completeness of this da-
ta as of the date of testing. Perform-
ance may vary among samples.

To test this month's communications
devices, we used a 20-MHz 386SL
notebook computer and a 25-MHz
386DX desktop computer: each was
running MS-DOS 5.0.

Additional equipment for the test-
ing included a TLS-3 line simulator,
an FTS-80 modem/fax test set, and
a proprietary CPTS multilevel line-
noise and signal-impairment genera-
tor. To confirm and calibrate all off-
hook meter readings and test levels,
we used a standard AT&T 2500
toucti-lone telephone set.

A 2400-bps Hayes-compatible ex-
ternal modem connected via the seri-
al port served as the host modem for
all modem testing. We used Pro-
comm Plus communications soft-
ware (parameters: 2400,N,8.1) and
the Super Kermit file-transfer proto-
col to send and receive the follow-
ing test files: SPALOGO.IMG
(bitmap graphics; 19,592 bytes),
SOFTWARE.TEX (ASCII text file;
9,728 bytes}. WATERFAL.PCX (PC
Paintbrush file; 39,324 bytes),
MEMCHK.COM (command pro-
gram: 1,266 bytes), QTCOM (com-
mand program; 512 bytes),
4000AS.TXT (ASCII alignment text
file; 4,224 bytes), BUSY.EXE (execut-
able program: 12,539 bytes),
CAN. TIF (TIF scanned image file;
12,013 bytes), PR1NTER.DOC (AS-
CII extended characters; 4,224

THE MODEM AND FAX TESTS

bytes), SAYEXE (executable sound
program; 13,393 bytes), V0ICE.V3S
(digital sound file; 4,224 bytes), WIND-
LOGO.GEM (GEM vector graphics
file; 1.156 bytes).

We sent and received the test
files using "clean" simulator condi-
tions as well as various impairment
levels. To test the integrity of trans-
fers at the end of each test cycle, we
ran executable and program files and
compared file sizes; text and graph-
ics files were displayed to confirm the
integrity of those transfers visually.

For all fax testing, a desktop Okida-
ta Okifax 650 fax machine served as
the host test unit. We used the manu-
facturer's proprietary fax software
with the following test files: SPALO-
GO.IMG (bitmap graphics; 19,592
bytes), SOFTWARE.TEX (ASCII text
file; 9,728 bytes), WATERFAL.PCX
(PC Paintbrush file; 39,324 bytes),
4000AS.TXT (ASCII alignment text
file; 4.224 bytes), CAN. TIF (TIF
scanned image file; 12,018 bytes),
PRINTER.DOC (ASCII extended char-
acters; 4,224 bytes).

File type-transmission compatibili-
ty varies greatly from one fax prod-
uct to another; hence, some prod-
ucts can send all of the above file
types as well as additional formats
while others cannot even support all
of the file types listed above. All can
support ASCII files, and most can

transmit PCX and TIF types at a min-
imum, so we've based our test file
types on the most popular formats sup-
ported by the majority of products.

Test files were sent and received
using "clean" simulator conditions
as well as various impairment levels.
We compared documents received
at the Okifax 650 with laser-output
samples of the original document
files to judge the quality of the trans-
mission and visually confirm the in-
tegrity of the file transfer. With each
test device, we used the highest trans-
fer rate available to send files to the
Okifax 650, which supports 9600
bps in standard Group III mode, li
the data-transfer rate had to be
stepped down to 7200, 4800, Of
2400 bps during the transfer proc-
ess, we indicated it on our test-resull
data sheets.

For testing fax devices that can re-
ceive as well as send files, we used
a nine-page set of laser-output sam-
ples with a cover sheet as the test
medium, sending it from the Okifax
650 to the test device under clean
and impaired line conditions. Re-
ceived fax files were viewed on the
video display between test cycles
and printed using a 300-dpi HP-com-
patible laser printer driven by the fax
software's file-printing utilities.

—TOM BENFORD. PRESIDENT
COMPUTER PRODUCT TESTING SERVICES

22 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

■IE

Discover Star's new NX-2430 printer.
Laser features at 1/3 the price.

Because its features and performance are so much like a laser, you'd think
the new NX-2430 Multi-Font was actually a laser printer. It has 13 scalable fonts,
which allow you the creative freedom to customize your documents. And it has the
extra conveniences that make lasers so easy to use, like real-time LCD display and
automatic emulation switching. What's more, its print quality is excellent for both
text and graphics.

But don't be fooled— the NX-2430 Multi-Font is a very reliable, extremely
affordable, 24-pin dot matrix. And it's backed by Star's exclusive 2-Year Parts and
Labor Warranty. For more information, call 1-800-447-4700.

SCALABLE

AUTO

LANDSCAPE

LCD

Aaa

AEC

FONTS

EMULATION

DISPLAY

OUIETMODE

IT TAKES A LITTLE EXTRA TO BE A STAR.

circle Reader Service Number 113

TEST LAB

MEGAHERTZ
P224FMV POCKET
LAPTOP FAX MODEM

Combine sophisticated modem, ter-
minal, and fax software w'\[h fiighly
functional communications hard-
ware, and what have you got? The
Megahertz P224FfvlV Pocket Lap-
top Fax Modem system, a high-
powered package that should
serve any user well.

The sleek, diminutive SVi x
2'/4 inch unit comes with several
accessories, including a six-foot
telephone cord, a pair of alkaline
batteries, an AC power adapter,
and a zippered carrying pouch.
A 9-inch serial cable connects
with the host PC's 9-pin serial
port. The Megahertz is equipped
with a single phone jack, so it's
not possible to have a telephone
connected at the same time.

Packaged with the Megahertz
is the MTEZ terminal program and
ExpressFax software. MTEZ is a
surprisingly good terminal pro-
gram loaded with features, lacking
only in the number of protocols
available for data transfers. It's
rich in functionality, including full
scripting capabilities. DOS gate-

MEGAHERTZ

4505 S. Wasatch Blvd.

Salt Lake City, UT 84124

(800) LAPTOPS

List price: $379

way, mini-BBS utilities, and much
more. Likewise, ExpressFax is one
of the most comprehensive and
flexible fax software programs pro-
vided with any of the units re-
viewed here. The program sup-
ports full memory-resident (TSR)
background fax reception, so it
won't interfere v/ith other comput-
ing functions. File conversions of
ASCII text, PCX, DCX, EXP and
TIF formats are provided as well
as a memory-resident printer utili-
ty for routing incoming faxes to on-
line printers. ExpressFax doesn't
support GEM IMG files, but unless
you use Ventura Publisher or oth-
er GEM-based applications, this
shouldn't pose much of a problem.
Installation proved to be more
challenging than expected. Initial-
ly, the unit functioned perfectly as
a modem but refused to send or
receive any fax transmissio'ns. A
toll-free call to Megahertz techni-
cal support revealed that the in-
ternal registers had somehow

^^Me

9c*^ert.

'''"^'o^rl

Ol^

been changed and they required
manual resetting. Once I reset
these, the fax sent single-page
documents without incident. How-
ever, transmission of multipage
documents was interrupted, and
a communications error was re-
ported after each page was sent.

Another call to tech support dis-
closed that the version of Ex-
pressFax shipped with the unit
wasn't the most current and that
this was the root of the problem.
I promptly downloaded the new-
est version from the Megahertz
BBS using the MTEZ software.
Once the update was loaded, the
fax functioned without a hitch.

Using the Megahertz unit is
easy, thanks to the friendly yet so-
phisticated software provided. In
just about every respect, I found
the Megahertz to be a megahit.

TOr^ BENFORD

Circle Header Service Number 308

PORTABLE PRINTER TEST RESULTS

BROTHER HJ-1001

CANON BJ-10EX

CITIZEN PN48

STAR MICRONICS
STARJET SJ-48

4-page text document
Elapsed time
Output appearance

2 min. 57 sec.
good

3 rniri- 6 sec.
good

4 min. 14 sec.
good

3 min. 20 sec.
excelleni

4-page GEM Artline graphics
Elapsed time
Output appearance

9 min. 55 sec.
good

9 min. 59 sec.
good

18 min- 24 sec.
good

10 min. 27 sec-
excellent

2 PerForm ruled forms
Elapsed time
Output appearance

6 min. 12 sec.
good

6 min. 10 sec.
good

10 min. 39 sec,
good

6 nnin, 29 sec.
excellent

C.P.T.S. printer test
Elapsed time

Output appearance

1 min. 47 sec.
good

1 min. 57 sec-
good

4 min. 27 sec.
good

1 min. 57 sec.
excellent

Windows font test
Elapsed time
Output appearance

0 min 36 sec
good

0 min. 53 sec-
good

1 min. 5 sec.
good

1 min. 5 sec.
excellent

All tests were run using the Epson emulation.

24 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

Although

We Carry A

Variety Of

Products,

WeOnlyOfifer

EXPANSION BOARDS

Orchid Technolog>

Ramquest l(V'32

OKS22il2MBS329

3-8MB for rS/2 SO/nfi/eO/TO/SO

RaniquM 8/ 16 OK S 1 -19 2MB S245

BOCA Research

Bocaram At Plus

OK SI 19 2ME S199 2-8MB UM A.O Afs
Bocaraiu 2 for PS/2's OK S!d9 2MB S219
B«arapXT-PS/2 301MBS1o9

AST Research

Kararasi' Plus 236 OK S 189 2\1B $289
upwflMB[urATLiM4.0
Faitram2861\IBS279
Cupid 32 OK S250

VIDEO GRAPHICS CARDS

ATI

a">H Ultra 1MB PS/2 or IS^Bl IS S449
GraptiksliltralMBSnBuseSMS
Graphics Vaiit^w/IMBS383
NEW!!!VGAStereoXLw/lMB$3J3
VGAWninl(TXLIMBw/mouscS239

Orchid Technology

Fahrfnhcit 1280 w/IMB & Sierra 3379
PrLXfe)i{;m'rll3 512KSl!)9 1MBS2l9
Prodesiijicr I IMC for PS/2 1MB S399

BOCA Research

BOCA Super VGA 512K $139 1MBSI79

PRINTER UPGRADES

Hewlett Packard

LamtllRlli. IIID.IIIP
IMBS69 2MBS119 4MBSI99
Laserjet 11, IID
IMBS89 2MBS1194MBS1M

Panasonic 4420 & 44501

1MBS1092MBSI294MBS229
4-)d01MBS179 4455 2HBS269

Epson EPL 6000 &EPL 7000

lMBS129 2MRS145 4MBS2;i"]

IBM 4019 & 4019E

-)MBSn5 2MBSI393,riMBSI99

OKI 400, 800, 820, 830, 840

lMBSlig2MBSI694MBSI99

Canon

1.BP4 2MBS209LBP82MB$119

MEMORY CHIPS & MODULES

DRAM

lXI-70SS4.95 25ftX4-80>SS4.99
lX1-80NSS4.:iO256X4-l00SSS4.95
2S6XI-R0NS Sl,99 256X1-120NS S1.75
2r)6XI-l(XINSS1.ai25&XI-l30>SS!.50
WX4-8aNSS3.0O&tXl-100>SS1.75
li4X4-1IX)NS S2.7S f>iXl-l20Vi S1.60

SIMM/SIPP Modules

4X9-70NSSie94X9«NSS159

IXS)-70NSS421X<MlflS41

IX9-lt»NSS40

MATH CO-PROCESSORS

IIT

L-S83C87-16,-2r),-20&-33Slf59

tisfflC87-ias.\siir)-20S.'i;si29

V-ULS83C87-IUS199

Intel

80387-16. -20. -25 S -33 S239
80387-16SXS139-20SXS189
80287-10 875 80287X1599

0 matter what you buy from us, you won't have
to worry. Because at Universal, we only stock
the most reliable products in the industry.

Thai's why, we can offer a 5 year warranty with a 30
day, money back guarantee on every product.

Plus, everything you buy is guaranteed to be
compatible with your computer. Because when you call
to order, our sales service department will help you
figure out exactly what you need. They're knowledgeable
about every product. So they'll be there for you every
step of the way.

And just to make sure nothing is overlooked, we also
check every product for quality before it's shipped. After
that, it's sent to you anyway you like. ^^^

So if you want to upgrade your ^2??^rS«i
computer, use Universal. Because *l%iiliJ«*
everyone who orders a product '^ompat i b i^i^ ^

from us, gets the same thing. ; -■'^''jn^

IBI^ PS/2 UPGRADES ■ LAPTOP UPGRADES

IBM PS/2 Memory

6450604 2MB .MOD 50Z. 55SX. 70 S89

6450608 2MB MOD 70.A21S119
34F2933 & 77 4MB PS/2 SIMM S199
6150129 8MB S! . MM S.T()4
30F53602.\SBfar30-2B6S99
W50I284MBMOD90S95S2S9
6450902 2HB MOD !»& 95 $129

6450609 2-8MB MOD 50. 50Z, 60 S298

6450605 2-8MB .MOD 70 S 80 S350
34F3077 2-14MBMOD70&80
W/2MBS298

34™iM-16MBMOD70&80
W/4MBS429

PS/2 Hard Drives

Zero Slot for 50. 507,

52MB S395 80MB S495 I05.MB S599

124NfB for 55S.X. 70 S740 240MB S999 -

200MB SI065

124MB MDL 55S.X. 70 S740 200MB SI065

Processor Upgrades
by Kingston

IBM PS/2 50, 60. 50Z, 30/286, 25/286,
AT. XT/236. AST Preniium/Bra\'o 286,
Compaq Deskpro 286, Portable 111, HP
\klra ES/12, EE/8. NEC R)*efMate
286+, RMMe +. Kpson 286: 20MHZ for
S34125MHZforS4l9

COMPAQ UPGRADES

Compaq Deskpro

Deskpro 386/20, 25, 20E, 25E & 386S
4MB Module S229 4MB expboaixi S327
[tekpf« 386/33 486/25 S>steinpro
2MB Module S149 6 axtet cxp ird,
W/2MBS395

1/3 lieight floppy disk drives

L44MBS129 1.2MB SI39

Portables

LTC 28C 1 MB S99 2MB S169 4MB $449

LTE386S/20 1MBS2094MBS399
386/20 1 MB Lligraiie kit S145
4MBK(p/cMbr(lS375
SLT2861MBS119 4MBS429
SLT3B61MBS129 2MBS255
4MBS430

Toshiba

T1200.XE/St:. TieOO. T3 1 OOE. 13 1 OOSX,
ra200S.X, 15100,15200. 2MB SI 12
T320BSXC2MBS159 4MBS329
TlOOOSE/Xi;/li:&T200flS,X 1HBS119
2MBS229

T1000LE&1^000SX4MBS419
tilOOSX,m0OSX4MBS229
T32003MBS254

Megahertz Laptop Modems

2400 BD internal S149 w/MNP5 S210
2400/9600 FAX/Modem w/M^P5 S3 19

NEC UPGRADES

fhwemate SX 2MB S395 4MB S575

l^wernate SX Plus 2MB S299 4MB S525

Fbv.erraaleSV20

2MB CPU S!^

2MB EXP S2Si

ftwcrmate 38li/

20/25 2MB 3325

BMB S799

Z-386/20/25/33

and33ElMBS64

4MBS219

^te)ersR)nSL

386SX 2MB SI99

SllmsRirt/

SuperSport, SX.

286ES159

TurtwSport 386,

386EIHBSH9

4MB $195

800/899-8518

UNIVERSAL

ntnUKT fRULJUi.

UNIVERSAL MEMORY PRODUCTS 15451 Redhill, Suite E,

Tustin. CA 92680 D Phone: 714/258-2018 Fax: 714/258-2818

Hours M - F 6:30 - 5:00 SAT 8:00 -2:00 PST

VISA

Same da^
shipping by
UPS. Federal
Express or
DHL. Order
worldwide b/
RO.. COD,
APO, FPO &
credit card
with no
surcharge
added. 207.
restocking fee
on all non-
defective
returns.

Circle Reader Service Number 195

TEST LAB

- ;■ n

FAX AND MODEM FEATURES '

HAYES

POCKET EDITION

2400 MODEIU

MECAHERn

P224FMV

POCKET UVPTOP

FAX MODEM

U.S. ROBOTICS
WORLBPORT 2496
FAX/DATA MODEM

ZOLTRIX
POCKET 96/24
FAX MODEM

ZOLTRIX 2400P
DATA MODEM

List price

S179

$379

$229

$99

Product type

modem

fax/modem

Maximum

fax speed (in bps)

n/a

9600

4800

Minimum
tailback (in bps)

300

Data modem
capability

■

Auto fax/modem
select

n/a

■

Fax transmit
capability

n/a

■

Fax receive
capablllly

n/a

Maximum modem
data speed (In bps)

2400

240O

AT command set

■

Background/
operation mode

n/a

■

Automatic
answering

n/a

■

Automatic
dialing

n/a

□

Performs
polling

n/a

Clean tests
Transmit

Receive

pass
pass

pass

Impairment tests
Transmit

Receive

pass
pass

pass*
pass

pass:^
pass

pass
pass

pass

Hardware
Installation

simple

average

simple

Software
Installation

simple

average

simple

simpie

Documentation

good

excellent

good

Overall product
assessment

good

t Send- only unit.

t Passed ali tests; will not send IMG files.

■ —yes □ —no

n/a— not applicable or not available

Minimum tailback is the minimum speed to whicii a modem or fax will fail back— that is, slow down— to match speeds with another
machine or to perform extra error corrsction in order to check and ensure data integrity.

Polling allows a fax unit, at a deferred time, to sand out form letters to a predetermined set of fax numbers. It also allows you to leave
documents in your transmit queue and have them transmitted in response to a laxed request.

26 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

If you haven't discovered
it already, welcome to
Learning Company software.

We've put more into it, so you and

your family will get the most out of
it. Fabulous graphics, captivating
characters, and intriguing music,
sound effects and animation make
Learning Company software so much
fun tliat kids play it over and over.
And, they're so excited about playing
that they don't realize they're absorbing
its rich educational content.

Our educational approach is a
proven winner. All of our products
are thoroughly tested by teachers,
educational specialists, and kids-
both in the classroom and at home.

This blend of solid education and
engaging activities must be working.
We have an amazingly high percentage
of repeat customers. After you try
one of our products, you'll come
liack for more too! So, add some
excitement to your family's education.

Choose front thefoUowing
Learning Company titles:

Ages 10 & Up Operation Neptune ■
Ancient Empires

Ages 7 to 10 -*''"/■«''■ -fc/ff'^i-

Spellbound! *

Super Solvers

Midnight Rescue!

SiifK'r Sdlrers

OutNumbered!

Ages 5 to 8
Ages 3 to 6

Reader Rabbit 2 ■'

Super Solrers

Treasure Mountain!

lieMhr Kclhhit 's

Ready for Letters ■
Reader Rabbit 1
MetroGnomes' Music ^

Productivity Tjje Writing Center *
for AU Ages „,^, children 's Writing
,„ & Publishing Center

If you can't find cxir procluct-s at yoLir local
dealer, call us antl ask a!x)ut our limited time

25% discount offer!
^ Call 1-800-852-2255!

CIrcIa Rudw Servin Number 104

TEST LAB

STAR MICRONICS AMERICA
420 Lexington Ave.. Ste. 2702
New York, NY 10170
(800) W7-4700
List price: $499

STAR MICRONICS
STARJET SJ-48

With clear and well-defined out-
put (up to 360 X 360 dpi resolu-
tion) rivaling ttiat of laser printers,
nearly silent operation, and mini-
mal maintenance requirements,
the four-pound SJ-48 is equally
suited to tf^e office, thie home,
and the college dorm. Best of all.
it costs just a little more than a 24-
pin dot-matrix printer (and sever-
al hundred dollars less than a per-
sonal laser printer).

Looking for type control? The
SJ-48 comes with four resident bit-
mapped fonts (Roman- and
Helvetica-style faces w/ith italic for
both) and a version of
Bitstream's Facelift, which gives
access to 13 more scalable
fonts. A Windows driver also
comes with the printer.

The mechanical implementation
of the SJ-48 is sound, from the pa-
per feed to the front-pane! con-
trols. The printer accepts a variety
of different paper stocks, from stan-
dard copier paper to envelopes
and cards. Using the front panel,
you can control the font and pitch,
adjust the top of form, clean the
printhead. pause printing, and
flush the buffer (28K maximum,
with no character download).

The clearly marked front-pan-
el display provides only auditory
feedback: Instead of visual indi-
cations of your selections, you
must rely on a series of beeping
signals, which are described in
the printer's 120-page manual.

28 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

The documentation clearly
lays out the order of font se-
lection but doesn't ex-
plain how to rotate to the
top of the pitch selection
list. You should print a few
test pages and record the re-
sults in your manual to ensure
that you're setting the correct
pitch for your documents.

Two paper paths (from the
rear and from the top) handle roll-
ing and straight feeds. You
should feed heavier stock (enve-
lopes and cards, for example)
from the rear with the pnnter on
its edge (using the printer's pull-
out stand for stability). Regular pa-
per can also be fed through the
rear, from the top (with the print-
er flat on the table), or from an op-
tional 30-page sheet feeder.

An optional rechargeable bat-
tery (an additional 0.6 pound) can
provide power for printing about
40 pages of text. The added
weight is a small trade-off for the
flexibility of having a truly portable
printer with this kind of phnt quali-
ty. Print cartridges install easily
and are rated at 700,000 charac-
ters. Overall, the economics of the
SJ-48 compare favorably to the ec-
onomics of laser printers for home
offices or other businesses with
moderate printing requirements
(about $0.05 per page for the SJ-
48 as compared with about S0.03
for the typical laser printer).

Designed for small workspaces,
mobile executives, and home of-
fice workers needing high-quality
output, the SJ-48 is all the printer
many computer users will need.
Versatility, desktop publishing
quality, high-resolution graphics,
ease of use, portability, and reli-
ability (a two-year warranty)
make this one a Star.

PETER SCISCO

circle Reader Service Number 309

U.S. ROBOTICS
WORLDPORT 2496
FAX/DATA MODEM

The U.S. Robotics WorldPort
2496 portable fax and data mo-
dem is well designed and full of
thoughtful features that, depend-
ing on your particular needs,
could make it an excellent
choice for your mobile telecommu-
nications.

The WorldPort uses a 25-pin in-
put connector and attaches to ei-
ther 9- or 25-pin serial ports on
the PC via an included Y-connec-
tor cable with dual ends, The unit
itself comes with an internal speak-
er, data-display lights, and dual
phone jacks — all highly useful
and desirable features.

For troubleshooting problems
that often occur duhng the con-
nect phase of modem use, the in-
ternal speaker is a blessing. With-
out the speaker to alert you to
potential problems, the software
must be able to report accurately
the current line status, which isn't
always possible. For instance, if
a bulletin board system is taken
offline for one reason or another,
a modem without a speaker will
offer a simple NO CARRIER mes-
sage in most cases when the num-
ber is tried, and that same mes-
sage is reported for busy signals.

Without a speaker to alert you
to the condition, multiple redial at-
tempts will be made, incurring
long-distance charges and caus-
ing the BBS operator headaches
from the repeated calls. With the
speaker on, you can hear that
there's no longer a bulletin board
online at that number and can
cease connect attempts.

The WorldPort has four data
lights that monitor data speed,
fax/error correction, carrier detec-
tion, and battery power. Display
lights are a welcome feature on
any pocket fax/modem, since
they provide a "window" on the
unit's status and operations.

The dual phone jacks built into

'] Recognize The
Famous Conpoter In This flo

Or The Vrlue.

You'd never know the amazing things this black box can do just by looking at it.

Not only does CDTV* play your audio CDs but it can bring words, music and pictures to life

on your television. CDTV simply connects to your TV and stereo and through its ingenious marriage

of computei; audio and video technologies lets you play with a new generation of interactive CDs,

CDTV is based on the Amiga* and if you buy the CDTV/P system before June 30th it

comes with AmigaDos* a keyboard, floppy drive, mouse, Grolier's Electronic Encyclopedia'"

Lemmings'? Appetizer pack and a savings of up to $848,00.*

Just pick up a CDTV Multimedia Player and you'll have a full 1Mb Amiga 500 with the potential

to be a home video editing system, a home reference library a children's learning tool,

a music studio and a language learning lab. All within reach of your sofa.

For the name of the closest authorized Amiga dealer or for your free
CDTVWelcome Tour video tape call 1-800-66-AMIGA in Canada, call l-800-66l-AMiGA.

Look into CDTV Multimedia, You'll be amazed at what you see,

C' Commodore »

(ciiTV

>w^ J INTERAnn

^■•.—.^ MULTIMEC

INTERAnnVE
MULTIMEDIA

GQTVJsa leg'tsUTtHtwlsmirkUtQ^mmQliare Electronics Ltd. Amiga and AmioaDcsare registered tTBdemarte of CanrrnodorD Amiga, [rji:.
Electroiic Encyclopedia is a Ir^emark Df GrclierEltclrDricPublishins InC- Lemmings is a trademark or Psya^asis. e 1992 Commodore Business Macnines. Inc. 'Based on MSRR actual dealer [:nc«s may vary.

CIrcIs Reader Service Number 201

TEST LAB

PORTABLE PRINTER FEATURES

BROTHER HJ-100i

CANON BJ-10EX

CITIZEN PN48 STAR MICRONICS
STARJET SJ-'fS

List price

S499-95

S499.00

$469.00t+ S499.00

Dimensions
Height (in inches)

1,9

1.9

2.0

1.9

Width (In inches)

12.2

122

11.7

12.2

Depth (in Inches)

8.5

3.5

8.5

Weight (in pounds)

4.0t

2,5t

4.0

Print mechanism

ink-jet

bubble- jet

thermal

nk-jet

Print speed (in cps)
Draft

Letter quaiity

Interface
Paraliel

Serial

n/a

SCSi

n/a

rVa

AppleTBil<

n/a

Emuiations
iBM ProPrinter

■

Epson
HP-II

■

■
a

□

HP-Piotter

Standard RAM
(in kilobytes)

37tt

37:{

Expansion RAM
(in kilobytes)

none

Paper teed
Tractor

Friction sheets

■

a
D

■

Stieet teeder

Trays

□

Roli paper

Envelopes

■

Transparencies

■

Ubels

■

Sheet feeder option

Paper output
Face up

■

Face down

□

image position
Portrait

■

Landscape

■

t Weight with battery^

U For Standard Syst
with rechargeable

im without battery. S549 for Prolessional System
battery

tt in mode 1 or mode 2. 20K in mode 3.

■ —yes a —no

t In mode 1 or mode 2. 20K in letter quality mode.

s=standard nya=noi available

30 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

DELPHI -Hell per hour online solution!

DELPHI'S 20/20 Advantage Plan sets the standard for online value:
20 hours for only $20, for aU the services you want!

Thousands of files to download.

Chat lines with hundreds of participants.

Worldwide e-mail.

Hobby and computer support groups.

Multi-player games.

Local access numbers

in over 600 cities and towns.

Wal Offer: 5 hours for |5!

Try DELPHI at $1 per hour. Join today and get 5 hours of evening and weekend
access for only $5. If you're not satisfied, simply cancel your account before the
end of the calendar month with no further obligation. Keep your account active
and you'll automatically be enrolled in the 20/20 plan for the next month.

1. Via modem, dial 1-800-365-4636.

2. When connected, press RETURN once or twice.

3. At Password, enter CP55
Questions? Call 1-800-695-4005.

Rates apply for evening and weekend access from within the mainland US. There is a one-time enrollment fee of $19
when you join the 20/20 Advantage Plan. Further details are provided during the online registration.

DELPHI is a service of

General Videotex Corporation

1030 Mcssoclnusetts Avenue

Cambridge, MA 02138-6302

800-695-4005 • 617-491-3393

circle Raadar Service Numbef t61

TEST LAB

the WorldPort allow line signals to
pass through the fax/modem to
your phone, even when the
WorldPort isn't in operation. This
feature eliminates the hassle of
plugging and unplugging re-
quired to switch from phone to mo-
dem use on single-jack units.

One valuable feature of the
WorldPort is its third power op-
tion. As with other pocket units,
the WorldPort can be powered by
either battery (9-volt alkaline) or
an included AC power adapter.
An additional option allows volt-
age to be drawn from the comput-
er itself via pin 9 of the DB-25 con-
nector on some IBM-compatible
computers- If +12 volts is present
on pin 9, the internal battery (if any)
is automatically disconnected, and
the modem is turned on. If you
have a PC that provides +12 volts
to pin 9 of your 25-pin COM port
(check your owner's manual), this
is a very handy feature.

Whether the WorldPort meets
your needs may well depend on
its software. The communications
software provided with the unit
lacks many of the features now re-
garded by computer enthusiasts
as standard. While this program
conforms to the standard Hayes
AT command set and supports
XMODEM and ASCII file transfers,
it lacks the faster, more efficient
transfer protocols. Additionally, it
doesn't support script and mini-
BBS functions found on more so-
phisticated programs. If you want
a fuller menu of features and data-
transfer protocols , you' II have to pu r-
chase an additional communica-
tions software package.

The fax functions of the device
are limited by the supplied soft-
ware as well. The conversion proc-
ess supports neither IMG nor TIF
formats, which limits the soft-
ware's usefulness if you have
need of these types of image
files. The fax-receive program,
while fairly simple to use, doesn't
operate in background mode. All
system processing is halted
while incoming fax transmissions
are handled, unlike the back-

32 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

U.S. ROBOTICS

6100 N. McCormIck Blvil.

Skokie, IL 60076

(800) DIALUSR

List price: $379

ground TSR processing offered
with comparable units,

If you're a traveling power user,
you may need stronger software
than the standard offerings sup-
plied with this unit. If, however,
your telecommunication needs are
fairly straightfonward, the modem
and fax functions of the WorldPort
should serve you nicely.

TOM BENFORD

Circle Reader Service Number 310

ZOLTRIX l>OCKET
96/24 FAX MODEM

The combination of a 2400-baud
modem and a full-function 9600-
bps send/receive fax in a unit the
size of a TV remote makes the Zol-
trix Pocket 96/24 Fax Modem an
ideal choice for laptop and note-
book com pute r users with telecom-
munication needs. To go online,
simply plug the included 9-pin se-
rial cable into your computer's
COM port, connect the phone ca-
ble to a jack, and load the soft-
ware. This done, you have all the
communication capabilities of a
fully compliant Hayes-compatible
modem and a PC fax board.

The Zoltrix has incorporated
nearly every feature of a full-size
modem into the tiny 5'/? x 2V-\
inch case. The internal speaker,
an option lacking on many other
pocket modems, provides audito-
ry confirmation of both fax trans-
missions and modem functions.
As with full-size modems, the
speaker can be set to Off, On Un-
til Connection, or On (at all
times). An invaluable feature, the
speaker is frequently the only
way of knowing if the modem or
communications package is func-
tioning properly.

Another advantage the Zoltrix
has over other pocket modems is

•l

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^ •Sf

its two phone jacks built directly
into the modem's casing. One
jack is used for the incoming tel-
ephone line. The other jack is
used to connect a standard tele-
phone to the modem unit for
voice communication. If the
phone line to the Zoltrix is frequent-
ly used for both voice and data
communications, the second
jack will prove to be a most worth-
while feature, since it eliminates
the need to disconnect and recon-
nect the modem each time you
wish to use the telephone.

Another attractive feature of the
Zoltrix is Its series of status-indica-
tor lights, commonly found on full-
size modems but a rarity on pock-
et-size portables. The indicators
provide a quick assessment of the
fax/modem's status.

The fax/modem can draw its op-
erational power two ways. For
homie or office use, the Zoltrix is
supplied with a nine-volt AC trans-
former; on the go, the fax/modem
can use a standard nine-volt al-
kaline battery.

The Zoltrix design facilitates
communications on the go by pro-
viding a snap-on plastic casing
that covers all the sensitive areas
of the fax/modem. Acting as a
sheath, the cover effectively iso-
lates the unit from damage due to
dust, bumps and scrapes, and
general travel abuse.

The supplied BitCom and Bit-
Fax programs both provide excel-
lent data communication. BitFax
allows for the conversion and
transmission of all major file
types, including image and TIF for-
mats. In addition, the software sup-
ports full memory-resident fax re-
ception in the background, which
allows other tasks to be per-

formed on the computer while
you receive incoming fax transmis-
sions. The BitCom terminal soft-
ware is easy to learn and pro-
vides a full range of features that
will prove useful even to the most
demanding modem aficionado.
The Zoltrix Pocket 96/24 Fax Mo-
dem is a well-designed and com-
plete telecommunication package.
Any laptop or notebook user in the
market for a topnotch fax/modem
should consider this Zoltrix.

TOM BENFORD

Circle Reader Service Number 311

ZOLTRIX 2400P
DATA MODEM

While lots of notebook- and laptop-
computer users need a modem
and the ability to send a fax via the
PC, not everyone needs (or
wants) to receive a fax through a
computer. Likewise, many budget-
conscious users don't want to pay
the price of sending faxes at 9600
bps; for these folks, a 4800-bps
model at a lower price is fine. If
you're one of these users, then the
Zoltrix 2400P Data Ivlodem is the
device you're looking for.

The 2400P provides almost the
same excellent software and hard-
ware features found In the Zoltrix
Pocket 96/24 Fax Modem, and it's
a full-featured 2400-bps modem.

ZOLTRIX

47517 Seabridge Dr.

Fremont, CA 94538

(510)657-1188

■ !st price: S99

The big difference between the
two models is that the 2400P sup-
ports only 4800-bps tax transmis-
sions and can't receive faxes at all.

The 2400P is certainly not lack-
ing in features. A stylish dark gray
case houses a trio of status-indi-
cator lights, an internal speaker, du-
al phone jacks, and an external
power jack. Viewing the status
lights is no problem when the unit
is connected to a laptop or note-
book computer, but having the SVj-
inch unit protruding from the back
of a desktop computer makes read-
ing the status lights a chore.

The 2400P comes equipped
with its own internal speaker,
which provides aural feedback of
line conditions and transmission
status. You'll want to consider
this highly desirable feature
when shopping for a fax/modem.

Because the Zoltrix 2400P
comes with two phone jacks, you
can use the phone without having
to disconnect the modem, Leave
your phone connected to the Zol-
trix all the time if you like, since
any phone signals can pass
through the 2400P, even when
the device is turned off.

Two power options are provid-
ed on the 2400P A nine-volt al-
kaline battery can provide the pow-
er, or you can connect the includ-
ed AC adapter for unlimited power
draw. A status-indicator light alerts
you to low-battery conditions.
And, like the Pocket 96/24 mod-
el, the 2400P is outfitted with a pro-
tective cover that shields the

ZOLTRIX

47517 Seabridge Dr.
Fremont, CA 94538
(510) 657-1188
List price: $229

unit's vulnerable areas.

A modified version of BitFax
comes with the 2400P for fax trans-
missions at 4800 bps; this soft-
ware has good features and pro-
vides excellent file support. TIF,
PCX, IMG, ASCII, and several oth-
er formats are supported by the
conversion software. You should
pay attention to the version num-
ber, however. The review unit
came with version 2.064 of Bit-
Fax. Some unresolved anomalies
in this version caused problems
with the review unit. {Zoltrix tech
support was surprised that I'd re-
ceived that software version,
since it hadn't been tested yet.)
The company supplied me with
version 2.062, which ran without
incident, and assured me it
would remedy the problem with
2.064 in the very near future.

If 9600-bps send/receive pock-
et fax/modems seem a bit be-
yond your budget and you're tru-
ly wondering when you'd ever
expect to receive a fax at your port-
able PC, perhaps the Zoltrix
240QP is the economical alterna-
tive you're looking for.

TOM BENFORD

Circle Reader Service Number 312

NEXT MONTH:

WINDOWS

WORD

PROCESSORS

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE 33

NEWS & NOTES

Jill Champion

The Language Master
6000-SE, Franklin
Electronics' special-
edition English-
language resource,
has lull speech
capabilities to help
those with
special needs.

Election-Year Prodigy

Prodigy's new voter-education
service, Political Profile, is a wel-
come respite from network
sound bites and political com-
mercials that offer nothing
new. Prodigy's Political Profile
is a comprehensive database
on federal and state politics de-
signed to encourage public po-
litical awareness and involve-
ment and to increase voter turn-
out. Through Political Profile,
Prodigy subscribers can ac-
cess a broad range of candi-
date information, from incum-
bents' biographies and key
voting records to FEC (Feder-
al Elections Commission) data

1 AMC*J«^l MASTCH hOOO-St

: causing surprise and

wonder
-as»ton*ish»ing»\y \adverb\

iaBQa@Giiif3oai

BDBOBia^OBQ

I BQI3@

on presidential and congres-
sional candidates' campaign
contributions. Information is al-
so available on the state level.
For an extra $2.50, subscrib-
ers can write directly to their
congressional representatives
through the service. Letters
wiii be printed out and then
delivered to Capitol Hill offices.
For more information on
this service, contact Prodigy
Services, 445 Hamilton Ave-
nue, White Piains, New York
10601; (800) 776-3449.

A Special Pocket Dictionary

Kudos to Franklin Electronics
for helping meet the needs of
the physically challenged
with its recently introduced
Language Master 6000-SE, a

portable electronic dictionary
that contains more than
300,000 definitions; 500,000
synonyms; spelling correction
for more than 110,000 words;
and an electronic grammar
handbook. S£ stands for Spe-
cial Edition: The unit has full
speech capability for people
with special needs, such as
those who are visually im-
paired, blind, learning disa-
bled, or dyslexic.

Full speech capability al-
lows every function on the 6000-
SE to be spoken out loud, and
the speech rate can be adiust-
ed to suit the needs of the lis-
tener, Words can be fully
pronounced, audibly
spelled letter by letter,
or audibly spelled
phonetically, and let-
ters can be spoken
as they are typed
in. A message key
allows the 6000-
SE to be used as
a communication
tool for the blind
and as a teach-
ing tool for the
learning disa-
bled. As many
as 26 messag-
es can be en-
tered, stored,
and spoken at any time by
pressing a key.

Because the 6000-SE will
be used to meet a variety of
different needs, features
such as font sizes, speech
modes, message speeds,
and personal word lists can
be completely customized.

The suggested retail price
is S495. For more information,
contact Franklin Electronic
Publishers, 122 Burrs Road,
Mount Holly, New Jersey
08060: (609) 261-4800.

Pocket Rocket

The MV214 Voyager pocket
modem from Com 1 Data is
packaged with an acoustic
coupler, allowing Voyager us-
ers to link from pay, hotel, cel-

lular, and other phones
where jacks aren't removable
and from foreign countries
where phone jacks differ. The
CCITT- and Bell-compatible
Voyager weighs only six ounc-
es and uses a nine-volt bat-
tery for extra convenience.
The suggested retail price is
$390. If you have the Hewlett-
Packard 95LX palmtop com-
puter. Com 1 will provide a
free adapter that allows you
to use the Voyager with it. For
more information, contact
Com 1 Data Communications,
5120 Avenida Encinas, Suite
C, Carlsbad, California 92008;
(619)431-5606.

Mega Hard Drives

Are you looking for extra data
storage? Try megastoring
your data on one of fvlega
Drive System's new Millenni-
um removable hard drives.
These superstorage drives
for PCs, Macs, and all net-
worked workstations hold
from 52 megabytes to one gi-
gabyte with average access
times of from 9 to 12 millisec-
onds. Linked multiple dock-
ing bays can increase stor-
age up to seven gigabytes of
active online storage.

The Millennium drives are
priced from $1,599 to $6,599.
Mega Drive Systems also has
a new Mercury series of remov-
able hard drives that hold up
to one gigabyte of data In an
internal half-height slot. Mercu-
ry prices range from $1,129
to $6,559. For more informa-
tion, contact Mega Drive Sys-
tems, 489 South Robertson
Boulevard, Beverly Hiils, Cali-
fornia 90211; (310) 247-0006.

Parle z-vous. . . ?

As the world continues to
move closer to the concept of
a true global village, access
to rapid, dependable lan-
guage translators is now es-
sential. If you're in need of a
foreign language translator
for any type of technical doc-

34 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

JOIN THE COMPUTE SEARCHSTAKES

YOU MAY WIN BOTH OF THESE CITIZEN
PTONTERS! DIAL1-900-454-8681!

The Citizen GSX-145 color printer Is the fast, easy solution to
spreadsheets, multipart forms, and mailing labels.The Citizen
Notebook Printer (PN48) fits in your briefcase and puts laser-
quality printing on any paper, anytime. Now they can be yours.

IT'S GRAND TO WIN

Every month, from now until November, you'll have the
chance to win fabulous prizes by playing the Compute
SearchStakes. And by solving a minimum of just two
monthly SearchStakes, you'll be in the position to compete
for the SearchStakes Grand Prize, to be featured in our
upcoming December issue.

IT'S FUN TO PLAY

Each of the six picture disks displayed below is a portion of
a photo or illustration taken from an ad in this issue. To
solve the June SearchStakes, locate the ads from which

these disks were taken and note the page number for
each. If the ad has no page number, simply count that
page or cover as zero. Then add up all six page numbers.
That is the solution to this month's SearchStakes.

IT'S EASY TO ENTER

Once you find the solution, you may enter the June
SearchStakes automatically on a touch-tone phone by
calling 1-900-454-8681 ($1.50 for the first minute,
$1.00 for each additional minute) or by mailing your
answer on a 3" x 5 " piece of paper, along with your name,
address, and phone number to: "June Compute
SearchStakes," 324 West Wendover Avenue, Suite 200,
Greensboro, N.C. 27408 by 7/31/92. For more information
on how you may win this month's prize, valued at $1,500,
turn to page 38.

Citizen printers. Ccmpufe magazine. Enter early... and enter often I

^ We choose to go to the mom. ♦ ♦"

-John F. Kennedy

"V^^li*"

BUZZ ALDRIN'S

BdCEi

AU^-UVET SPAS RACE SMUUnOM

TTiree... nvo...
one... LIFT-OFF!
The roar of the giant
Saturn V engines
becomes deafening as
the gleaming rocket
clears the launch
tower. Within minutes it has enough velocity
to reach orhlt. America's space program is
heading to the moon! But for two years the
Russians have been working on a larger, more
powerful rocket. Could they be secretly
planning a mission this year to land men on the
moon? Will they get there first?

Buzi Aldrins Race Into S/wce'"'", is a
computer simulation of man's greatest
adventure, the race to the moon. It recreates
all the excitement of every space mission using
digitized footage from lift-offs, space walks,
lunar landings and splashdowns.

As Space Director, you have at your
disposal the entire space inventories of both
the U.S.A. and U.S.S.R., and can plan and
direct every conceivable space mission:
sub-orbitals; orbital manned and unmanned;
duration records; lunar flybys; lem tests; lunar
passes; lunar orbits; lunar landings; and even
emergency space rescues!

You get to recruit and train over 140
astronauts and cosmonauts and determine
which ones have the "right stuff'. You deter-
mine which space hardware to research and
develop and then you actually schedule and
launch individual space missions.

^ftm^^S^St^

m -

1 - =■ ■{

t L

_* ^ — ■ J

1 - II - 1

Buzz Aidrin's Race Into Space^*^ offers
twenty different approaches to the moon. Do
you follow history or do you cut your own path
to glory? Will the United States land on the
moon first? Or will the Russians continue to
dominate space and plant the red flag on lunar
soil first?

Do 'i'ou Have The Right Stuff?

Buzt Aidrin's Race Into Sjjoce™ includes:

■ Ability to select from over thirty types of
space hardivare

■ Hundreds of histmcd photos and digitized
anitnations

■ Tifeniy varied approaches to hnd on the moon

■ Pla>' i/ie U.S. oxSwiets

■ Recruit , train , and assign over 1 40 astronauts

■ Rescue strar^ded astronauts

■ Three levels of difficulty

■ Complete astronaut history

■ Fidl mwsica! score and sound effects

To Order Buzz Aidrin's Race Into Space™,
call 1-800-969-GAME, or see your local
retailer. Coming soon on MS-DOS.

MS-DOS ScrceJM Pictured.
Circle Reader Service Number 105

Interplay Productions
3710 S.Susan, Suite! 00
Santa Ana, CA 92704
(714)549-2411

©i993S:raKgicVis'(mj| Im. Allri^u reserved. Buu AJdfrn's Rcct
Into Space^^ is a frfldemarfe oflnt£rpiiy Producwns^ inc. MS-DOS
is a rraikmsrk of Microioft Corporadon .

NEWS & NOTES

ument, scientific paper, financial re-
port, employee notice, contract, mar-
keting brochure, or just business corre-
spondence, WORDNET offers a global
network of language translators and edi-
tors. The Massachusetts-based compa-
ny has connections with more than 700
foreign language translators world-
wide, who are available around the
clock to translate, write, edit, typeset,
and otherwise prepare documents tor
your technical, legal, marketing, and
general business needs.

The company prides itself on gram-
matically correct, culturally authentic
translations from and into any written
language, using linguists whose native
tongue is that of the target audience.
Furthermore, the translators are ex-
perts in their fields — for instance, com-
puter manuals are translated by pro-
grammers, medical-related texts and
documents by physicians, and legal
documents by attorneys.

For more information, contact WORD-
NET, 30 Nagog Park, Acton, Massachu-
setts 01720; (508) 264-0600.

More Babel-ophiles

For those who want to know what's out
there that's multilingual for the PC,
Knowledge Computing now offers a
254-page Multilingual PC Directory de-
tailing around 300 multilingual prod-
ucts available in more than 70 coun-
tries from more than 1000 manufactur-
ers, publishers, and affiliates.

Profiles describe each product's
main features and noteworthy multilin-
gual or foreign language capabilities,
computer requirements, languages sup-
ported, and lists of software reviews
that have been published. The suggest-
ed retail price for the directory is $34.95.
For more information, contact Knowl-
edge Computing, P.O. Box 3068, Stam-
ford, Connecticut 06905-0068.

Getting Better

Pixel Perfect has released a bigger, bel-
ter version of Schueler's Home fvledical
Advisor. 'Version 1.2 features a friendli-
er interface with hypertext, hot keys,
and mouse support. It has also in-
creased the value of the product by
expanding the drug file to cover more
than 800 medications, including informa-
tion on use, side effects, and interac-
tions. You can search for information

by common symptoms, diseases, in-
juries, poisons, drugs, and tests. Also,
when you register the software, you'll re-
ceive a referral database including the
names of board-certified specialists in
your state, listed by county. The list
price of Schueler's Home fvledical Ad-
visor is $69.95. If you would like addition-
al information, contact Pixel Perfect,
10460 South Tropical Trail, Ivlerritt Is-
land, Florida 32952; (407} 777-5353.

Writing It Right

Editors, writers, and other word crafters
who hesitate to trust their writing skills
completely should check out WordStar
International's recent upgrade of Cor-
rect Grammar for r\/lacint03h, Windows,
and DOS text-based applications. The
product's grammar has been fine-
tuned for higher accuracy — especially
for examining subject-verb agreement,
run-on sentences, and easily confused
words. You can create and add your
own rules to Correct Grammar's rule
base. The software's preset style
guides are subject based and include
business, law, advertising, and more.

The good news for publishers and
other companies that rely heavily on
desktop publishing and word process-
ing programs is that all versions of the
new Correct Grammar can be net-
worked. The main program is installed
on a server, while personal dictionaries
and style guides can still be created
on individual PCs.

The suggested retail prices are
$99.00 for tvlac and DOS versions,
$119.00 for the Windows version,
$99.00 plus $36.95 for each network
node for networked versions, and
$119.00 plus $36.95 for each network
node for the Windows networked ver-
sion. For more information, contact
WordStar International, 201 Alameda
del Prado, P. O. Box 6113, Novato, Cal-
ifornia 94948; (415) 382-8000.

The ROM Empire

From Trantor, new CD-ROM driver soft-
ware (CD295) gives IBM PS/2 Model
95 computer users broad CD-ROM sup-
port by enabling the computer to con-
nect to more than 45 different models
of CD-ROM drives— and up to seven
drives at a time.

The software runs in conjunction
with IBM's ABIOS (Advanced BIOS) in

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JUNE t992 COMPUTE 37

COMPUTE SEARCHSTAKES!

No purchase or phone call requifed. For automatic
entry, call 1-900-454-8681 on a touch-tone phone. To
enter monthly SearchStakes drawings, call from 9
A.M. EDT on 4/2&92 Siroiigh midnight EST 12/31/92
to give your name, attdress. telephone numlMr, the
Compute issue date (month), and the solution for the
month you select To enter the Grand Prize drawing,
call from 9:00 A.M. EST 11/1/92 through midnight
EST 1/31/93 to gNfe your name, address, teleptione
numlref, the solution to the Grand Prize SearchStakes
plus ttie solution to any two of the previous monthly
SearchStakes. The cost for the call is SI .50 lor the
first minute and SI .00 per minute thereafter; average
call is estimated to be 2-3 minutes. Charges for calls
to ttie above number will appear on your phone bill.
Callers must be 18 or older. All call-in entrants will
receive a S5.00 savings coupon toward crier's choice
of: (11 Kathy Keeton's newest book. Longevity, or (2)
a two-year subscription to Compute. Multiple coupons
may not be combined on a single book or sutMcriptJon
purchase. Call as often as you wish; each call is a
separate entry. Call-in entry option is void in GA, LA,
MN, ID, OR, and vMere prohibited.
Alternate Entry Method: Print your name, address,
and phone numlDer on a 3" x 5" piece of paper. (1 ) To
enter the monthly drawings, print the Compute issue
date (month) and solutiofi for that month on your entry
and address your envetope to include the issue date
(month), for example: "June Compute Searctistakes."
(2) To enter the Grand Prize drawing, print the wotiis
"Grand Prize," the Grand Prize solution, plus the
solution to any two previous monthly SearchStakes
on your entry. Address your envelope; "Compute
SearchStakes Grand Prize." Mail all entries,
addressed as directed above, to; 324 West Wendover
Avenue, Suite 200, Greensboro, N.C. 2740B. Enter
as often as you wish; each entry must be mailed
separately. All write-in entries must be postmat1<ed by
1/30/93 and received by 2/15/93.
For the solution(s), complete rules, and detailed
draeriptkin of prizes including prize values, send a
self-addressed stamped envelope to Compute
SearchStakes Solutions, Oept RRS,196S Broadvray,
NY, N.Y. 1£X)23-5965 by 12/31ffi; no return postage
required for residents of VT and WA. Solutions and
pruB Information will be piuvlded through the issue
dale in which the request Is received
Prizes/Values: Grand Prize (1), minimum value
S1S,000-maximum value S40,000, Monthly prizes
(6), one lor each of the following Compute 1992
issue dates; June, July, August, September,
October, and hiovemtjer, minimum value SI .500-
maximum value S7,500. Maximum total prize
value; $85,000. A description of each prize,
including its approximate value, will appear in
Compute prior to the first entry date for that prize.
Prizes are not transferable or redeemable for cash.
No substitution o( prizes except as necessary, due
to availability, Licensing, transportation,
registration, and dealer charges, if applicable, are
winner's responsibility. Winners may be required
to pick up some prizes from the nearest dealership.
Travel prizes must be from a major airport nearest
winner's home and must be used within 12 months
o( award date. Additional restrictions may apply.
Taxes are the winner's responsibility.
Open only to U.S. residents 18 and older, except
employees and their families of Compute Inti Ltd.,
POWER GROUP, INC., their respective subskiaries,
affiliates, and advertising agencies. Ail federal, state,
local laws and regulations apisly. Void where prohitiited.
Ttiis program is sponsored by t^mpute International
Ltd., 1965 Broadway, NY, N.Y. 10023, (212) 496-
6100. Monthly winners will be selected at random
from among all eligible entries received by the judges
by the following drawing dates: June issue-7/31/92,
July issue-a'3l('92, August issue-g,'3ft'92, September
issue- 10/30.''92, October issue-1 1/30/92, November
issue-1 2/31/92. Grand Prize winner will be selected
from among all eligible entries received by 2/15/93.
Winners will be selected by POWER GROLJP, INC.,
an independent judging organization whose decisions
are final. Odds determined by number of entries
received. Winners will be notified by mail and
required to execute and return an affidavit of eligibility
and release within 21 days of date on notification
letter or aitemates will be selected. Limit one winner
per household.

This sweepstakes is subject to the Official Hules
and Regulations. For a list of winners, send a self-
addressed stamped envelope to: Compute
SearchStakes Winners, Dept. RRW, 1965 Broadway,
m. M.Y. 10023-5965 by Ml/93. Requests Will be
fuifilled alter the sweepstakes ends.

NEWS & NOTES

38 COIvlPUTE JUNE 1992

the Moidel 95 and will operate with oth-
er systems incorporating ABIOS.
Amorig the numerous CD-ROM drives
supported are Apple, Chinon, Hitachi,
IBM, NEC, Panasonic, Sony, Texel,
and Toshiba- The suggested retail
price for the CD295 software is S59.
For more information, contact Trantor
Systems, 5415 Randall Place, Fremont,
California 94538; (510) 770-1400,

Getting Intuit

Who wants to pull the plug on Intuit's
highly profitable check-printing busi-
ness? American Check Printers, that's who .

For years Intuit has sold its popular
Quicken home accounting software at
a narrow profit margin, knowing its us-
ers would return with lucrative check or-
ders. Now American Check Printers
has started a service that promises to
shake things up in this small but high-
ly profitable niche.

Its product will be displayed along-
side Quicken at major retailers. For a
single fee of around $20, the purchas-
er can order checks at a 40-50-pef-
cent discount off the price offered by In-
tuit. And there is an offer in the pack-
age good for a $20 discount on the
first order, making the software essen-
tially free of cost.

You use the data-entry component
to enter the information that should ap-
pear on the checks (including decora-
tive clip art) and return the floppy disk
along with a voided check to American
Check Printers with an order form and
a payment. Within a couple of weeks,
the printed checks will be returned.

American Check Printers software
and service can be used to create
checks for Quicken, Quick Pay Micro-
soft Money, Managing Your Money,
Money Counts, Money Matters, Pacio-
li, Dollars and Sense, MyCheckbook,
and MyBusinessCheckbook. For more
information, contact American Check
Printers, 171 Jefferson Drive, Menio
Park, California 94025; (415)617-8899,

Making Money the Old-Fashioned Way

If you think you can get rich quick, get
in touch with reality But if you want to
better manage the money you have,
get in touch with Reality Technologies,
Reality, publishers of the Wealth Build-
er and Wealth Starter series of money-
and investment-management software.

wilt soon introduce Smart Investor by
Money Magazine, an online service and
software package designed to serve the
specific needs of individual investors.

The problem with existing online in-
vestment services is that the informa-
tion is not well organized- Often you
will compare apples and oranges
when it comes time to determine
which investment is superior. The infor-
mation downioaded from Reality's
Smart Investor will be preformatted to
provide the maximum usefulness to the
end user. It allows you to compare in-
vestment schemes, recommends mutu-
al funds, cautions you about invest-
ments you have already ma6e that
might soon go sour, and allows you to
buy and sell stocks through low-cost
brokerage firms.

For more information about this on-
line service, contact Reality Technolo-
gies, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania 19104; (215) 387-6055.

Help for loyal IBM Users

IBM now offers a four-com;ponent sys-
tem known collectively as HelpWare
and touted as "the most comprehen-
sive customer satisfaction offering in
the personal computing industry" The
components of the system include a
telephone number where users can
get information about PS/2s and OS/2,
a 30-day satisfaction guarantee on all
PS/2 products, a training program, and
a series of 800 numbers for more spe-
cific PS/2 information. It appears that
IBM is no longer portraying itself as the
low-cost leader and is again styiing itself
as the solutions company, with the
main change being that it is appealing
to the individual instead of the corporate
account, which was once the mainstay
of IBM's profit margin. To find out more
about HeipWare, contact IBM, 1133
Westchester Avenue, White Plains, New
York 10604: (800) 772-2227.

Companies with items of interest suita-
ble for "News & Notes" should send
information along with a color slide or
color transparency to News & Notes,
Attn: Jill Champion. COMPUTE, 324
West Wendover A\/enue, Suite 200,
Greensboro. North Carolina 27408. Al-
though space is limited, all items will
be considered for publication. □

Let MicroProse fly you through the
past and into the 21 St century!

B-

A furious tide of drug cartels biankets the world in
the year 2000. At the request of nations all over the
world, the United States creates an elite paramilitary
task force commanded by you!

Leading a squadron of fierce, high performance
F-22 fighters, you'll unleash devastating aerial
assaults on drug plantations and strategic targets I
You'll break the tight grip drug bosses have on
government and military establishments! And you'll
lead 250 undercover agents against drug runners in
the mountains, cities, and jungles of Colombia!

Plus, with AT AC'S special options, you can fly your
own fighter or play from a strategy perspective and
command the whole ATAC force as you snuff out the
scourge of drugs once and for all!

What did the courageous flyboys of the Memphis Belle
really experience as they plowed through relentless
anti-aircraft fire over Nazi-occupied Europe? Find out
for yourself as you pilot the legendary B-1 7 Flying
Fortress and lead a 10-man crew through 25 perilous
daytime missions!

The most complete and accurate bomber simulation
ever produced, the Flying Fortress will immerse you in
breathtaking bombing runs! You'll destroy strategic
targets—allocate crew members to their tasks. ..and fend
off squadrons of deadly Nazi warplanes in explosive
aerial combat! ^

The B-1 7 Flying Fortress. It's a flight simiilation of
legendary proportions!

ADVANCEC) TACTICAL. AIR COh/tfVIAND"'

M^PROSE

ENTERTAINMEN

S O F T W A R

Coming soon for IBM PC compatibles!

For more information about exciting MicroProse products,
call1-800-879-PLAY

circle Reader Service Number 224

FEEDBACK

Consulting the doctor,

computing for

ttte visually impaired,

Iceeping mail

private, looking for

Paradise, multi-

tasifing on an older

computer, and

riding tlie magic bus

Expert Advice

Oops! The review of Schuel-
er's Home Medical Advisor in
your April issue vi^as of version
1,1. Version 1.2 was released
in December 1991 and has ad-
dressed many of the shortcom-
ings referred to by Mr. Anzov-
in's review of 1.1. We tfiink
you'll find 1.2 quite user-friend-
ly. It brings the PC user com-
prehensive medical diagnostic/
reference software not previous-
ly available.

PIXEL PERFECT
MERRITT ISLAND. FL

You're right. We mistakenly re-
viewed the earlier version of
the program. To get the
scoop on what's new in the lat-
est version, see the article in
this issue's "News & Notes. "

A Friend indeed

I have a friend who has an ex-
treme vision loss due to multi-
ple sclerosis but who loves to
work v/ith her computer. Is
there a program out there to
enlarge the characters on the
monitor for use with WordPer-
fect, Lotus, and so on?

SUSAN DICK
ROSEAU, MN

It's worth mentioning that al-
though many sighted people
assume that visually impaired
people are unable to see any-
thing, the vast majority of le-
gally blind people can see to
some extent and only need to
have enlarged type or a color
adjustment to see a computer
display dearly.

The first product that
comes to mind is Eye Relief for
Low-Vision Users (SliiSoft,
1644 l\^assachusetts Avenue.
Suite 79. Lexington. Ivtassachu-
setts 02173: 800-662-3622). a
word processor designed for
people with vision problems. It
can expand the letters on the
screen so that people with
poor vision can see them eas-
ily. This magnification is limited
to Eye Relief itself, however

Telesensory (455 North Ber-
nardo Avenue, Mountain
View, California 94039; 800-
227-84 18) manufactures hard-
ware and software screen en-
largers that can enlarge the
computer screen 2- 15 times.

IBM has found many ways
to ease computer use for the
disabled. You can contact
IBM's National Support Cen-
ter for Persons with Disabili-
ties at RO. Box 2150. Atlanta,
Georgia 30301-2150: (800)
426-2133. It has a TDD num-
ber as well: (800) 284-9482.

Prodigy Screen

In your April issue, in the arti-
cle "Access and Security,"
Gregg Keizer made a state-
ment that seemed to imply
that Prodigy screens E-mail be-
fore it is posted. This would
be a felony offense under the
Electronic Communications Pri-
vacy Act of 1986. Prodigy
does not screen E-mail.

STEVE HEIN
PRODIGY SERVICES
WHITE PLAINS. NY

Mr Keizer was referring in his
statement to Prodigy's policy
of screening public postings.
He did not intend to imply
that Prodigy screens E-mail,
which would, as you say, be
a crime. Neither Prodigy nor
any other online service
screens E-mail. We're sorry
for any misunderstanding.

This Side of Paradise

I have a problem with Win-
dows, i recently purchased an
8-bit VGA card and monitor
from a friend. The VGA card
didn't come with any software
or instructions, yet installing it
was a snap. When I try to in-
stall Windows, however, the
screen goes blank after the sec-
ond installation disk, and noth-
ing happens from that point
on. ! tried installing Windows in
CGA mode (recommended by
fvlicrosoft), and the installation
was flawless. Yet when I tried

to switch to VGA mode within
Windows, I wound up with a
blank screen again. All my oth-
er software works fine. Any ad-
vice you can give me to solve
my problem would be most
appreciated. I am a new sub-
scriber and find your maga-
zine to be the most informative
and objective on the market.

JERRY KOSSOWER
EAST WINDSOR. NJ

We called Paradise technical
support at (800) 832-4778 Par-
adise is part of the same com-
pany that mal<es Western Digi-
tal hard disks and controllers.
The technician we spoke with
said that you should have no
trouble as long as you're using
the standard VGA driver in Win-
dows. Specialized Windows
drivers are available through
the Paradise bulletin board at
(714) 753-1234.

Next we called Microsoft
technical support at (206) 637-
7098. Microsoft suggested
that you try reinstalling the sys-
tem with the CGA driver (you
can just use the setup pro-
gram by typing SETLIP while in
the WINDOWS subdirectory to
save the time and trouble of
reinstalling Windows). Then
start up Windows in real mode
with the command WIN /H.
Then make the switch to VGA
within Windows. If that works,
exit Windows and restart It in
standard mode (assuming
that you have at least an
80286 microprocessor) with
WIN /S. If this runs all right,
start up the system in 386-en-
hanced mode (assuming that
you have at least an 80386
microprocessor) with WIN.

You might also have a con-
flict with your mouse driver Try
booting from a floppy without in-
stalling your mouse driver and
then install Windows. If these
strategies don't work, call Micro-
soft. You'll need to know the
make and model of your com-
puter, how much memory you
have, what other programs

40 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

needed \o

>Tee

^d^!l:^tsed^

VAusX^e

CaW

Oo^ooel^^sf

Nndvo^e^^"

Rex Nebular is on his way!

.^.^DPROSE

S O i

W A a E

NTERtAINMENT

1-800-879-PLAY

circle Reader Sarvlcs Number 156

FEEDBACK

you're running, and what kind of proc-
essor you have before f\4icrosoft can
mal<e any further recommendations.

Taking It to Task

I keep reading that you need a 386 to
multitask. Is this because the 286 can't
handle multitasking, or is it due to
speed requirements? I also have a
TVGA-8 video card. In the manual
there's no address for the company. I'd
like to get an 800 x 600 driver for my
graphics card for Windows 3.0.

OLIVER W. HINKLEY JR.
PAULDEN, A2

The capacity to muititask is built into
both the 286 and the 386, though they
work in slightly different ways. You can
even multitask with an 8088 chip, if
you're using GeoWbrks Ensemble.

Windows 3.0 in standard mode (the
most powerful mode available for a 286)
can multitask Windows programs. A 386
or 386SX can operate as if it were sev-
eral 8088 processors, so it can multitask
DOS and Windows programs In Win-
dows 386-enhanced mode.

The chip speed doesn't have any-
thing to do with multitasking: it's all a
product of the chip architecture and
the code it's running. However, a slow
chip running a number of programs
may become unacceptably snaillike.
The boosterism you see for the 386
chip is based more on its potential
than its actual functionality. Even now,
over ten years after its introduction, the
standard 4. 77-f^Hz 640K 8088 PC can
run nearly the entire library of PC soft-
ware (albeit slowly).

We were unable to turn up an ad-
dress for the maker of TVGA. If anyone
reading this can provide the address,
please send it to us, and we'll forward
it to Mr. HInkley

You Say EISA; I Say ISA

In searching for an i486 computer, I
learned that there are two main types:
EISA and ISA. What do these acro-
nyms stand for? Which would be the
most useful for general and CAD/CAE
use? Additionally, the two main BIOS
types seem to be Phoenix and AMI.
Does it matter to the normal user
which is used?

MATTHEW BOARDMAN
CHESTER BASIN, NS. CANADA

42 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

Actually there are three bus choices:
ISA (Industry Standard Architecture). EI-
SA (Extended Industry Standard Archi-
tecture), and t\/ICA (l\/flcro Channel
Architecture). ISA Is the standard 16-
bit bus you can find in any AT com-
puter (XTs and PCs have an 8-bit ISA
bus). The reason for the necessity of a
change from ISA was that 386 and 486
computers needed a new standard
bus to communicate with expansion
cards 32 bits at a time. The 286 could
only communicate 16 bits at a time.

IBM created the MCA bus to be
used with its high-end PS/2 computers,
hoping to establish a new standard. It
also stood to make some money on
the bus because it was demanding roy-
alties from card and computer makers
for using its technology. The MCA bus
is also incompatible with old ISA tech-
nology This didn't appeal to computer
makers, and a coalition of manufactur-
ers established a maverick standard
called EISA, which is free for anyone to
use and completely compatible with
both 8- and f6-blt ISA cards.

Which is best? EISA is backward
compatible with the ISA cards you al-
ready use and is ready to accommo-
date any 32-bit expansion cards that
will come along In the future.

Phoenix and AMI (American Me-
gatrends) BIOSs are completely ma-
ture and compatible. They're more wide-
ly used than the IBIv! BIOS they were
built to emulate.

It doesn't matter to the user which BI-
OS IS used, no matter how normal he
or she is. But watch the copyright
date on the BIOS chip. Some manufac-
turers might try to trim costs by using
out-of-date BIOSs. If the copyright
date is more than a couple of years
old, consider another machine.

Readers whose letters appear in "Feed-
back" will receive a free COMPUTE's
PC clock radio while supplies last. Do
you have a question about hardware or
software? Or have you discovered
something that could help other PC us-
ers? If so. we want to hear from you.
Write to COMPUTE'S Feedback, 324
West Wendover Avenue, Suite 200,
Greensboro, North Carolina 27408. We
regret that we cannot provide person-
al replies to technical questions. O

Editor

Art Director

Managing Editor

Features Editor

RovJev/s £dltor

Editor, Gazette

Editor, Amiga Resource

Copy Editors

Editorial Assistant
Contritiutlng Edtlors

Clidon Karnes

Rabin C, Case

David Englisti

Ro&erl Bixby

Mike Hudnall

Tom Netsel

Denny Alkin

Karen Huffman

Susan Thompson

Dana Sioll

Eddie Huffman, Gregg Keaer.

Tony Ftoberts. Karen Siepak

ART

Aaslstflnt Art Director Kenneth A. Hardy
Designer Jo Boyhin
Copy production Manager Terry Cash

PRODUCTION
Production Manager De Potter

Traffic Manager Barbara A. Williams

PROGRAMMIrIG

Manager, Programming Troy Tucker
& Online Services

Programmers Bruce M- t3owden
Sieve Draper
Bradley M Small

ADMIN1STFIATI0N

Kathy Keeton
William Tynan

Keith Ferretl
David Henstey Jr
Sybil Agee
Julia Fleming

President, COO

Executive Vice President,

Operations

Editoriet Director

Operations Manager

Ottlce Manager

Sr, Administrative Asstslant,

Customer Sen/ice

Receptionist PoUy Cillpam

ADVERTISING
Vice President, Peter T Johnsmeyer
Associate Publistier (212)496-6100

Vice President, James B. Martise
Sales Development

ADVERTISING SALES OFFICES

East Coast Full-Page ana standard Display Ads— Beier T Jofins-
meyer. Chris Coeltio; COMPUTE PuOI:calions International Ltd
1965 Broadway, New York. Ny 10023; (212) "sge-eitX) South-
east—Harriet Rogers, 603 A St., SE. Washington. DC 20(X)3i
(202) 54B-6926 Florida— J M- Remer Associates, 3300 NE
152nd St . Suite 192, Aventjta. FL 331B0; (305) 933-1467, (305)
933-3302 (FAX) Midwest- Full-Page and Standard Display
Ads— Starr Lane, hJational Accounis tvlanager . ill East Wack-
erDr . Suite 608, Chicago, IL 60601: 1312) 8'9-09O0, (312)819-
0613 (FAX) Norlhwest^eiry Thompson. Jules E Thompson
Co , 1290 Howard Ave . Suite 303. Buriingame, CA 9401 0, (4 15)
348-8222. Lucille Dennis, (707) 45 1-8209 Soulhv»OSl— Ian Lmg-
wood, 6728 Eton Ave,. Canoga Parii. CA 91303; (818) 992-
4777 Product Mart Ads— Lucille Dennis, Jules E, Thompson
Co.. 1290 Howard Ave.. Suite 303. Bunmgame, CA 9401 D; (707)
451-8209 U K S, Europe— Beverly Wardale, 14 Lisgar Terr,, Lon-
don W14. England: 011-J4l-B02-32g8 Japan— inlergroup Cora-
municalions. Lid . Jiro S5rTr.ba. Presidenl: 3F Tiger Bldg. 5-22 Sht-
bs-koen, 3-ChQme, Wmalo ku. Tokyo 105. Japan; 03-434-
2607 ClassilBd Ads— Wario Manaseri, 1 Vltoods Ci., Hunjngion,
NV 11743; (TEL/FAX) (516) 757-9562.

THE CORPORCnON

8oD Guccione (chainnan and CEO)

Kathy Keeton (vice-chairman)

David J, Myerson (president and CEO)

William F. Marlieb (president, markeling, sales and circulalion)

Patrick J. Gavin (senior vice presiderr! and CFO)

Anthtiny J Guccione (sscreiary and treasurer)

John Evans (president, loreign editions and manufacluring)

Jen Winston (senior vce president, administrative services)

ADVERTISING AND tHARKETING

Sr. VP/Corp. DIr., New Business Development; Beverly
Wardale; VP/Oir., Group Advertising Sales: f^ancy Kestenbaum:
Sr. vp/Southern and Midwest Advertising D;r ; l^ieter Goldsmith,
Oltices; New York 1966 Broadway. New Yori. NY l(X)23-S965,
Tel (212) 496-61D0. Teles 237128 Midwesl: 111 East Wacker
Dr,, Suite 508. Chi[;ago, IL 60601; (312) 819-0900. (312) 819-
0813 (FAX) South 1725 K Si NW. Suite 903. Washington. (K
20006, Tel, (202) 728-0320 West Coast 6728 Eton Ave , Can-
oga Park, CA 91303. Tel (B18) 992-4777. U-; and Europe 14
Lisgar Terrace. London W14, England, Tel. 01-B28 333e. Japan;
Inlergroup Jiro Semba. le\ex J25469IGLTYO. Fax 434-5970. Ko-
rea; Kaya Advtsng,, inc., Rm, 402 Kunshin Annex B.'D 251-1.
Donwa Dong, t^apo-Ku. Seoul, Korea (121). Tel 719-8906. Tel-
ex K32144Kayaad

ADMINISTRATION

Sr VP, CFO; Patrick J Gavin, Sr, VP/Adminislrative Senrices
Jen Winston: Sr. VP/Arl d Graphics Frank Devino; VP/
Circulation: Ivlarcia Ofovitz; VP/Direciat ol New fjlagazine Devel-
opment; Fiona Ctierry; VP Director Sales Ptoraolions; Beverly Grei-
per: VP Produolion: Hal Halpner: Dir Newsstand Circulation:
Paul Roinick: Dir , Nevrsstand Operations Joe Galio; Dir,
Subscription Circulation: Marcia Schultz; Director ot Research
Robert Rallner; Advertising Production Direcior; Charlene
Smith: Advertising Production Ttaflic Mgr.: Mark Williams: Trat-
fjc Dir William Harbult; Production Ivlgr, Tern Slinson, AssI,
Produolion Mgr Nancy Pice: Foreign Editions Mgi,; Michael Ste-
vens. Exec, Asst. to Bob Gucoione: Diane O'Connell; Exec.
Assi. to David J Myetson: Ten Plsani; Special Asst to Bob 13uc-
clone: Jane Homiish.

simulations from M

opportunity
advanced fv.
still perfecting

in the

ip conxi^' -

Coming soon for IBM PC Compatibles!

For more Information about exciting MicfoPrase products.

caii1-800-879-PLAY

F-Z2

Circki Reader Senlce Number 212

t'^^-i

TIPS & TOOLS

Edited by Richard C. Leinecker

A directory listing

with multiple

file specifications,

an automatic

CHDIR to a new

directory,

and more helpful

little COM files

More Little Gems

I've received an incredible
number of letters from read-
ers who want more of those
handy debug programs.
Here are four of the most re-
quested ones.

Make sure the DOS pro-
gram called DEBUG is in
your path or the current direc-
tory. In these examples, the
italic text is what the comput-
er prints; the roman text is
what you should type. One
way to be sure you get these
programs exactly right is to
have someone read the num-
bers to you as you type them
in. Another way suggested by
one of our readers is to read
the numbers into a tape re-
corder and then play them
back as you enter the code.

To start off, I've written a
special directory program
that takes as many command
line arguments as you want
(limited, of course, by DOS's
128-byte command line max-
imum). It lets you see a direc-
tory of several given types. If
you want to see all of the EXE
and COM files in the current
directory, just type DIRR
-.EXE *.COM. To see the TXT
DOC, and ASC files, type
DIRR *.TXT -.DOC '.ASC.

DEBUG DIRR. COM

File not found

-e100baEB01 b4 1a cd 21 be

-e 1Q8 80 GO ac Oa cO 74 38 ac

-e 110 3c Od 74 33 3c 20 74 (7

-e 118 Sb d6 4a ac 3c Od 74 04

■e120 3c20 75f7ff 74ff c6

-e 128 44 ft 00 2b c9 b4 4e cd

-e 130 21 72 Oe eS 15 00 b4 4f

■e 138 cd 21 72 05 eS Oc 00 eb

-e 140 f5 8f 44 If 4e eb c8 b4

-e 148 4c cd 21 bb 86 01 8b d3

-e 150 30 3f 00 74 03 43 eb 18

-e 158 c6 07 Qd 43 cE 07 Da 43

-e 160 c6 07 24 b4 09 cd 21 c3

-RCX

CX 0000

:68

-W

Writing 0068 bytes

-Q

If you're anything like me,
you hate typing MD NEWDIR
and then CD NEWDIR. You
should be able to create a di-
rectory and enter it with a sin-
gle command. Now you can
with MCD.COM, To use it,
just type MCD NEWDIR to cre-
ate and immediately enter a
new directory.

DEBUG MCD. COM

File not lound

-e 100 be 80 00 ac Qa cO 74 If

-e 108 ac 3c Od 74 la 3c 20 74

-e 110 f7 8b d6 4a ac 3c Od 74

-e 118 04 3c 20 75 17 c6 44 tf

-e 120 00 e3 07 00 e8 09 00 b4

-e128 4ccd21 b4 39 cd 21 c3

■e 130 b4 3b cd 21 c3

■RCX

CX 0000

:35

-W

Writing 0035 bytes

■Q

A lot of folks are using laptop
and notebook computers
these days. Since the cursor
can be hard to see, it's some-
times convenient to have a
large cursor. Here's a pro-
gram called CSIZE.COM
that'll mat<e your cursor larger
and keep it that way.

When you run CSI2E, it
sets the new cursor size and
stays resident in memory to
make sure that your cursor
size remains the way you set
it. It'll occupy less than IK of
RAM once installed.

To use it, type CSIZE size.
Size can be any single-digit
number from 0 to 8.

DEBUG CSIZE.COM
File not found

■e 100 be 80 00 ac Oa cO 74 6c
■e108ac3c Od 74 67 3c ZD 74
-e 110 f7 4e ac 2c 30 3c 00 7c
-e 118 5b 3c 08 7f 57 0a cO 75
-e 120 05 b9 09 69 eb 07 fe cS
-e 128 b9 07 07 2a eS 89 De 4d
-e 130 01 b8 1c35cd21 89 1e
-e 138 4f 01 8c 06 51 01 ba 53
-e 140 01 bS 1c 25 cd 21 ba 20
-e 148 00 b4 31 cd 21 00 00 00

-e 150 00 00 00 16 50 51 Oe If

-e 158 8b Oe 4d 01 2b cO 8e d8

-e 160 39 0e 60 04 74 04 b4 01

-e1B8cd10 59 58 1f9c2eff

-e 170 1e 4f 01 cf b4 4e cd 21

-RCX

CX 0000

:78

-W

Writing 0078 bytes

-Q

One of the most annoying
things that can happen is ac-
cidentally hitting the Caps
Lock key, I never use this
key, so I don't mind losing its
functionality. The next pro-
gram, called CAP0FF.COM,
will remain memory resident
and turn off the Caps Lock
key if it's ever pressed. The
program will occupy less
than IK of RAM.

DEBUG CAPOFF.COM

File not found

•e 100 b8 leased 21 89 1e 1c

-e 108 01 8c 06 1e 01 ba 20 01

-e 110bS1c25cd21 ba 20 00

-e 118 b4 31 cd21 00 00 00 00

-e 120 1e5Q2bc0 8ed8 80 26

-e128 17 04bf 58 1f 9c2e ff

-e 130 1e 1c 01 cf

-RCX

CX 0000

:34

-W

Writing 0034 bytes

-Q

RICHARD C. LEINECKEH

MIAMI. FL

Color Code

I often work with two docu-
ments at a time in DOS
WordPerfect. When copying
text from one document to an-
other, I can make a mistake if
I'm not paying close attention
to which document is current-
ly on the screen. To solve this
problem, I set the second doc-
ument to a different color.
Then it's always obvious
which document is which.

To change the color of a
document from the default col-
or, press Shift-F3 to make the

44 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

Bring The Challenge Of
Greens™ To Your Screen

Put the fuzzy head covers back on your clubs. It's dark
out and it's raining. If you absolutely must play golf, boot
up GREENS, the ultimate 3-D golf simulation.

No other golf game can match GREENS for realism,
variety and pure entertainment. GREENS features three-
dimensional, landscaped courses that show real contours
and ground types. Accurately integrated ball mechanics
make sure your shots behave like they would in real life. Six
different courses. Singles or Tournament matches, and
human or computerized opponents with varying strengths
and weaknesses make the possibilities endless.

Power and precision. Critical decision-making. Un-
flinching authenticity and intelligent gameplay. State-of-the-
art graphics. GREENS is as close as you can come to real
golf — without worrying about lightning.

• Stunning 3-dimensional technology lets you travel
anywhere around the course. Follow the ball as it flies
through the air; watch your shots from numerous selectable
camera angles.

circle ReadBf

Aclual screens may vary.

• Change your stance, swing, tee and ball positions and see
their effects on your shots before and after each stroke.

• Player profiles, which change over time, including a full
handicap system.

• A dozen game types, including strokeplay, matchplay,
best ball, skins and a full tournament option for 1 to 4
human players.

• Customizable computer opponents and replay facilities.

^k^^ PROSE

ENTERTAINMENT . SOFTWARE

MicroProse Software, Inc.
ISO Lakefront Drive • Hunt Valley, Maryland • 21030-2245

For Amiga and IBM-PC/Tatidy/compatibles. For Ihe latest information on release

dates and availabilities, caU MicroProse Cuslomer Service at 410-771-1 151,

Sefvlce Number 225

TIPS & TOOLS

Super power

tips for

WoriiPerfeGt, DOS 5.0,

dBASE, and

PageMaker users

document active. Press Shift-
F1 for Setup, and select item
2 for Display, On the Display
menu, select item 1 for Colors/
Fonts/Attributes, and on tfie
last menu, choose item 1 for
Screen Colors. Choose a fore-
ground and background col-
or, and press F7 to make the
change permanent.

Now when you toggle be-
tween documents, the text col-
or will change.

ROBEflT JENKINS
CENTERVILLE, GA

Alternatives to Programs

In your December issue, the
"On Disk" column contained
a program called Delete Ex-
cept. This program allows you
to delete all files in a subdirec-
tory except those specified
on the command line. If you
have f^S-DOS 5.0, however,
you can easily do this without
a special program. This
batch file shows you how.

©ECHO OFF
AHRIB +H %1
DEL *.*
AHRIB -H %1

Save this batch file as
DELBUTBAT somewhere in
your path. To use it, just type
DELBUT file mask.

In the same issue there
was a program in "Tips &
Tools" called DIRDIRCOfVl,
which shows only the directo-
ries in the current directory. If
you have IVIS-DOS 5.0, you
can type DIR /AD and get the
same results. The /A switch lo-
cates files with certain attrib-
utes. The D after /A tells it to
include entries with the direc-
tory attribute.

VINCENT D. O'CONNOR
BABBIT, MN

Shelling from dBASE

If you're in dBASE and you de-
cide to execute a DOS com-
mand, you can use the I com-
mand at the dot prompt {such
as ! DiR A:), and it works

fine. If you want to execute
several DOS commands, how-
ever, this process becomes
tedious. Here's a short Quick-
BASIC program that lets you
shell to DOS temporarily.

PRINT "Type EXIT to return"
PRINT "to dBASE I11+."
SHELL CD\
SHELL

You should name this pro-
gram SHELL.EXE and place it
in your path. Next time you're
in dBASE and want to exe-
cute several DOS commands,
type ! SHELL at the dot
prompt. The dBASE program
will remain in memory, so you
can't run programs that need
a lot of memory. To return to
dBASE from DOS, just type EX-
IT at the DOS prompt.

LEN WEAVER
BRANTFORD, ON

Knockout Color Separations

A goal for many desktop pub-
lishers is to save as much mon-
ey as possible on preprinting
costs. One way to avoid extra
expense is to make sure your
camera-ready art is truly cam-
era ready by providing your
printer with color separations.

But sometimes color sepa-
rations alone are not enough
Depending on the colors
you'll be using, your printer
may require that certain col-
ors be "knocked out."

Knockouts apply when
you're printing one color over
another. Often, depending on
the colors involved, such as,
say, black over a lighter color,
you can just run one color over
the other. But you can't, for ex-
ample, print yellow over black,
or all you'll get is a slightly yel-
lowish shade of black. The ar-
ea of black where the yellow
will print over has to be knock-
ed out — in other words, white
space must be left in the
black separation where the yel-
low ink will print.

Making color separations

with knockouts in paint and
draw programs is usually rel-
atively easy, because many
programs automatically print
knockouts. PageMaker allows
you to print knockouts also,
but not with alt graphics for-
mats. You cannot, for exam-
ple, print one EPS file over an-
other and get knockouts. You
can print a PCX file over an
EPS file and get knockouts,
though. For knockouts in Page-
Maker 4.0, follow these steps.
In the Print dialog box,
click on the Spot Color Over-
lays check box. Now select
Knockouts. When you tell
PageMaker to print, the pro-
gram will give you separa-
tions with the colors knocked
out. This will save you money
on your printer's preprint set-
up fees; your artwork will be
truly camera ready.

WILLIAM HARREL
VEr^JTURA, CA

Large Directories

In WordPerfect for DOS, F5
gives you a list of files, and
you can go directly to a file
by pressing N and then typ-
ing in the first few letters of
the filename. When you have
a long list of subdirectories,
however, this won't work.

Instead, type N and then /
or \ followed by the first few let-
ters of the name of the file
you want to see. It sure cuts
down on scrolling time,

PHIL SHAPIRO
SAN DIEGO, CA

if you have an interesting tip
that you thinl< would help oth-
er PC users, send it along
with your name, address, and
Social Security number to
COMPUTES Tips & Tools.
324 West Wendover Avenue,
Suite 200. Greensboro. North
Carolina 27408. For each tip
we publish, we'll pay you $25-
$50 and send you a COM-
PUTE'S PC clock radio while
supplies last. n

46 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

connpuTE

CDtUIPUTE

***
***
***
***
***

COMPUTE RoundTable

Welcome to Compute/NET

Hosted by Rick Leinecker

with assistants

Tom Campbell

Stephen Levy

Peer Plaut

GEnie
1. COMPUTE Bulletin Board
2 COMPUTE Realtime Conference

3. COMPUTE Software Libraries

4. About tfie RoundTable

5. RoundTable News (910702)

6. About COMPUTE and the COMPUTE Ecfitors

7. Feedback to the Sysops

8. RoundTable and Library Help

9. COMPUTE Products

10. Coming Soon in COMPUTE

1 1 . COMPUTE Back Issue Database

12. COMPUTE Test Lab

13. Software Publishers' Catalogs

14. COMPUTE Online Game

COMPUTE/NET on GEnie had a terrific
gi^jnd opening. The comments tinged
from "iS'c never seen a Roundliible open
up with so much information'' to "Tliis
makes my modem and computer system
worth their price."

This month we're sponsoring some
contests. Do you kiiow your computer
trivia? Then trj' our computer trivia game.
And that's only one of the games \vc have
ready. There's a scavenger hunt and a logic
game. And if you win, you can get free
magazine subscriptions, disks, b(X)ks, or
cojincct time.

Above all, though, when you visit
COMPUTE/NET, stop in at tlic
COMPUTE Bullerin Board and participate
in some of the most stimulating
conversations onJine,

FIND US ON GENIE

GEnie

Ibu Get So Much Far So Little.

Now enjoy unlimited non-
prime time usage of over 100
popular GEnie Service features.
For just $4.95 a month.* You
get everything from electronic
mail to exciting games and
bulletin boards. Nobody else
gives you so much for so little.

Plus enjoy access to software
libraries, computer bulletin
boards, multiplaycr games and
more for just $6.00 per non-
prime hour for all baud rates up
to 2400. And with GEnie
there's no sign-up fee.

•Applies only in U.S. Mon.-Fri,, 6PM-8AM iocal
time 2nd all day Sal., Sun..^ anJ 5clcci holidays.
Prime lime hourly rare SIS up to 2400 baud. Some
fcaiures subject to surcharge and may noi be
available outside U.S. Prices, and products li&Icd as
of Oct, 1, 1990 subject to change. Tclcc«mmuniea-
tions surcharges may appiy. Guarantee limited To
one per cusTomcr and applies only to firs: month
of use.

Just Follow These Simple Steps.

1. Set your communications software for half duplex (local
echo), up to 2400 baud.

2. Dial toll-free 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection, enter
HHH.

3. At the U#=prompt, enter XTX99411, COMPUTE. Then
press Return.

4. Have a major credit card or your checking account number
ready.

For more information in the U.S. or Canada,
call 1-800-638-9636.

GE information Services

COMPUTE/NET

Richard C. Leinecker

We've grown

by leaps

and bounds, but

the best

Is yet to come.

TUNE IN FOR

FUTURE

DEVELOPMENTS

For nine months COMPUTE/
NET has grown in popularity
and increased its offerings.
The number of people using
our area has increased be-
yond our expectations. On GE-
nie we now rank 32nd on the
list of computing RoundTa-
bles. America Online doesn't
rank its areas, but I'd expect
a similar report there. A large
part of the credit goes to our
loyal readers and online follow-
ing. Another round of ap-
plause goes out to our parent
company, Generai Media. It
made a corporate decision to
support our efforts to make
our online services a success.

Our corporate philosophy
embraces new technology.
It's influenced heavily by our
sister magazine Omni, which
now shares the same building
with us. And our president,
Kathy Keeton, never misses
an opportunity to develop new
ideas.

But the best is yet to come.
I can't say in which direction
we're headed, since things
are currently under develop-
ment and we don't want to
give away any secrets. It's
fair, though, to say that you'll
be pleasantly surprised at
how COMPUTE/NET evolves
in the next year.

I won't be on staff here at
COMPUTE anymore. I'm mov-
ing on to a new adventure but
will remain as a cosysop on
COMPUTE/NET I've enjoyed
getting COMPUTE/NET start-
ed and watching it grow. On-
line services are just begin-
ning to realize their potential.
In several years they'll take a
dominant role in information
transmission and family enter-
tainment and enrichment, You
can still send me E-mail, but
your best bet is to address the

new online manager, Troy Tuck-
er. His GEnie address is
TROYGT and his Amenca On-
line screen name is TROY GT
(Note that TROY is spelled
with a zero instead of an Ofor
his America Online screen
name.)

This month on COMPUTE/
NET we're featuring several ter-
rific programs that you'll find
useful. There's a disk utility
called DiskTool, a system an-
alyzer called PC Doctor, and
a great game called Puzzle-
Master.

DiskTool will become your
friend. If you've ever erased a
file by accident, then you
know the agony of delete. One
of DiskTool's features is a file
uneraser. Unerasing a file is
never guaranteed to work, but
DiskTool hasn't failed me yet.
It also has a built-in file and sec-
tor editor that's the best I've ev-
er seen. And if that's not
enough, you can defragment
your disk drive with the opti-
mize function.

DiskTool is a professionally
written program with a terrific
interface. It has pull-down men-
us, mouse support, the ability
to change colors, and win-
dows with scroll bars. The file-
name is DT26.ZIR

PC Doctor 4.0 is an en-
hanced version of the same
program we talked about sev-
eral months ago. It's a
techie's toy. It lets you explore
systems and peer into areas
that are mysteries to most peo-
ple. You can edit any portion
of memory (conventional, ex-
panded, or extended), view
the memory-resident pro-
grams and information about
them, get a look at the list of
installed device drivers, and
lots more. I've seen commer-
cial programs for $80 and
more that don't do as much as
PC Doctor.

The program has a nice in-
terface and is easy to use. It
has pull-down menus and full
mouse support. It's stored

online as PGDOC40.ZIP

The last of our featured pro-
grams is PuzzleMaster. It's a
collection of six puzzle-type
games. Included are aversion
of Master Mind, a takeoff on Si-
mon, a word jumble game, a
slide puzzle section, a peg puz-
zle, and a jigsaw game, Each
of the games has several vari-
ations, so you can customize
each one for different skill lev-
els or increase the challenge
when you've mastered them at
the easy level,

The game is controlled with
a set of easy-to-use menus.
Full mouse support makes con-
trol even easier. Attractive
screen effects will make you
want to play just to see which
effect you'll get next.

Each of the six games has
its own high-score list, so you
can get some competition go-
ing among family members or
use the program at school for
some classroom fun. The file-
name is PZMASTER.ZIR

There's more for BASIC pro-
grammers. We've uploaded a
selection of previously pub-
lished BASIC programs. Includ-
ed in the archive files are the
source code, a compiled pro-
gram, and a documentation
file. If you're just learning BA-
SIC, these are great exam-
ples. If you're already a BASIC
programmer, you'll get lots of
good ideas. If you're not a pro-
grammer at all, you'll probably
enjoy most of these programs
anyway.

Once again, I'd like to tell
you how much I've enjoyed be-
ing involved with getting COM-
PUTE/NET started. Online serv-
ices are an exciting part of the
computer industry that's due
for a growth explosion. I'll be
watching, and I hope you will
be, too.

You can still contact me
with E-mail addressed to
RLEINECKER on GEnie, ID
75300,2104 on CompuServe,
or screen name RICK CL on
America Online. □

COMPUTE JUNE 1992

Serious About Computing?

Try America's Most Exciting

Online Service-For Free!

Get The Litest From COMPUTE/NET
ON America Online.

If you have a computer and a modem, America Online
is a great way to try COMPUTE/NET, the interactive
magazine of the future! Use Iceyword COMPUTE to
enjoy timely articles^ reviews, and features found in
COMPUTE. COMPUTE/NET is a great place to look for
software, too— high-quality games, utilities, and more.
There's something here for everyone. If you need
technical help, or you want to drop a line to
COMPUTE'S editors, this is the place.

America Online has hundreds of other offerings that
make it everything an online service was meant to be.
Download from a selection of more than 40,000
programs — all carefully reviewed for quality and
thoroughly tested. Get fast answers about software
from the experts, and participate in live conferences
and message boards specializing in games, graphics,
educational programs, business and productivity
applications, and much more.

Easy To Use, Yet Powerful.

Our unique graphical interface lets anyone — novice or
pro — discover America Online's many services with
just a point and a click. There are no puzzling prompts
or commands to get in the way.

Get resume advice and career counseling. Manage
your investments. Get the latest news and weather.
Get homework help for the kids and use a searchable,
up-to-date encyclopedia. Join special interest groups
and clubs. Save time and money shopping. Find and
book the lowest airfares. Entertain yourself with multi-
player games, quizzes, movie and book reviews,
horoscopes, soap opera news, and much more.

We're Serious Arqut
This Special Free Offer!

We're so sure you'll love America Online, we'll even
give you free software, a free trial membership and
free connect time to try the service. Return this
coupon (or call today) for a free trial membership!

Filei troij

There's sometM"B

Microsoft^

nrw

1 rticrBWft

Coo(6"'"^*

SuOQCStwrBox 1

t^««H BwriB I

SeewhafsavaRable,

and get ttiece, wfth just a point and a cBck.

P-

Hurry! Respond By 7/31/92!

n YES! Send me the free software and trial
membership to try COMPUTE/NET and America
Online. 1 understand there's no risk— if I'm not

completely satisfied, I may cancel
without further obligation.

NA.ME

ADDRESS

crrv

STATE

(

HOME PHONE

Computer Type and Disk Size:

DOS Compatible* Apple

Ds.ZS DS.S D Macintosh

• The DOS-compatible version of America Oniinc rcquiies 512K RAM memory,
a Hercules or EGA monitor or higher, a hard drive, and a mouse.

t -800-827-6364, EXT. 5883

Clip and mail to:
America Online
8619 Westwood Center Drive
Vienna, VA 22182

America Online is a registered service mark o( America Online, inc. COMPUTE/NET
is a registered service mark of COMPUTE Publicalians Intetnatianal Limited.

5SS.1/PC

INTRODOS

Tony Roberts

A bootable

floppy gets your

system

started when

your tiani

disk is stalled.

AVOID THE
BOOT-UP BLUES

What do you do if your hard
drive refuses to boot?

A. Scream.

B. Take an early lunch.

C. Take an early retirement.

D. Pray for an early visit by a
computer guru.

E. Try rebooting with your back-

up system floppy.

If you answered E, you're on
the right track. Occasionally,
something goes wrong with the
hard drive's crucial boot data,
and the hard drive thinks it's a
nonbootable device.

A system floppy is often all
it takes to get you back in op-
eration, but I'm willing to bet
you'd have trouble laying your
hands on a bootable floppy in
a pinch. If you do have a boota-
ble floppy, are you sure it
holds the current DOS version?

If your bootable floppy is ei-
ther nonexistent or outdated,
take a couple of minutes to cre-
ate one now using the DOS
FORMAT command. Insert a
new floppy in drive A: and en-
ter FORfvlAT A: IS. This opera^
tion formats the disk and cop-
ies COIVIfvlAND.COIVI and the
hidden DOS system files to it.

With your new bootable flop-
py you're in good shape if
trouble arises, but if you want
to be even better prepared,
copy SYS.COM and CHKDSK
.EXE to the disk along with a
small text editor and as many
of your favorite disk tools as
will fit.

If your hard disk ever fails to
perform, boot from the floppy
and see if you can access the
files on the hard disk. If the
hard disk is accessible, switch
to the C: drive and run
CHKDSK to verify that the data
on the drive is intact. If
CHKDSK runs clean, you can
then run AUTOEXEC.BAT and
go about your normal business.

Making repairs Is usually rel-
atively easy, but the approach
depends on the reason for the
failure. If C0MMAND.COM on
drive 0: is missing or mangled,
simply copy a fresh version
from your floppy disk. Be cer-
tain that the DOS versions on
your hard and floppy disks are
the same; C0MMAND.COM
doesn't work very well In mix-
and-match mode.

Similarly, DOS's hidden
files, if damaged, could prevent
boot-up. To copy new versions
of these files to your hard disk,
use the SYS C; command after
booting with your floppy.

Another possible reason for
failure is that something in
your CONFIG.SYS file causes
the system to hang before It ev-
er gives you control. If you've
added a new driver or recent-
ly edited CONFIG.SYS, consid-
er this possibility.

One way to isolate such a
problem is to rebuild CON-
FIG.SYS a line at a time until
you see what causes the sys-
tem to stumble. In one odd
case I worked on, I finally dis-
covered that the system hung
up during the load of the AN-
SI.SYS device driver. I couldn't
figure out why such a ubiqui-
tous device driver would
cause a problem until I noticed
that the ANSI .SYS file was half
its normal length. Once I re-
placed it with a whole copy
from the DOS disks, the prob-
lem was solved.

A less easily explainable
problem occurs when the hard
disk's boot sector suddenly
goes bad. Although rare, this
problem has bothered me on a
few occasions. Each time I
thought that an entire hard disk
reformat was in the offing, but
I always found an easier solu-
tion using one of the disk-repair
utilities, such as Norton's Disk
Doctor or PC Tools Diskfix.

The Important thing is to
be prepared so you can re-
cover from trouble and be
back at work with as little

difficulty as possible.

An added benefit to a boota-
ble disk loaded with all of your
favorite utilities is that It comes
In handy when you need to use
someone else's computer tem-
porarily. Working on an unfamil-
iar system can be much friend-
lier if you have access to at
least a few of your usual tools.
So format that bootable floppy
and stash it where you can al-
ways find it.

Speaking of formatting
disks, those of you with MS-
DOS 5.0 installed should
check out the nevy punch that
this version of FORMAT carries.

The nicest addition to the
program, by my v/ay of think-
ing, is the ease with which you
can tell DOS which size disk
you're formatting. If you're try-
ing to format a 720K disk in a
1.44MB drive, you can forget
the cryptic /T:80 /N:9 string
you used to use to pass along
information about tracks and
sectors on the target disk.

FORMAT now takes a /F
switch with which you simply
specify the size of the disk
you're formatting. FORMAT B:
/F:720, for example, is all it
takes to format that 720K flop-
py in a high-density drive.

Another nice feature is that
FORMAT uses the MIRROR
command to save a copy of
the target floppy's file alloca-
tion table. This makes unfor-
matting possible if you sudden-
ly realize that you had the
wrong disk In the drive when
you pressed the Enter key

Also in the DOS 5.0 version
of FORMAT is the quick for-
mat— the /Q switch. This op-
tion lets you reformat previous-
ly formatted media In sec-
onds. Although this is a great
timesaver, you should use this
method only when working
with disks that you know are
good. The quick format is
quick because all it does is cre-
ate a new file allocation table
and root directory: it doesn't
scan for bad sectors, □

50 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

Andrew Visscher's and Bruce Williams zaccagnlno's ...

4i ~<k>_.
t£..4 < ••■

K *

Game for a IrMtimeil -,

-1» •

»► •*

-•« •^t-

..r^^*«'

l_tiiKS'

mms:

The greatest collection of
solitaire games ever! In addition
to the 105 individual games,
there are tournaments, quests
and cross country journeys for a
lifetime of gaming entertainment.
"Solitaire's Journey" ranges from
the simple and easy all the way
up to the strategic and
challenging. _-

105 SOLITAIRE GAMES

(Most Of the world's best]

TOURNAMENT PLAY

(Set tournaments or create your own)

4 INTRIGUING QUESTS.

SEVERAL CROSS-COUNTRY TOURING

COMPETITIONS.

COMPLETE HISTORY AND OVERALL

AVERAGES FOR EACH GAME

Circle Reader Service Njmber Z38

The "Solitaire's Journey" computer
game is IBM PC and soon to be
Amiga compatible. It can be
obtained through your favorite
retailer or ordered direct by calling:
1-908-788-2799
©1992 Q.Q.P. All rights reserved.
IBM is a trademark of International
Business Machines.
Amiga is a trademark of Commordore.

POINT & CLICK

Clifton Karnes

Ascend is designed

to implement a

ttiougtitful, flexibie,

and elegant

time-management

system.

PLAN YOUR
ASCENT

I've studied time management
for years, and in my quest for
organization, I've used or ex-
perimented witti a number of
computer tools, including Side-
Kick, PC Tools Deluxe Desk-
top, Active Life, PackRat, and
YourWay, Alt these programs
have their strong points, but
none of them really fit me iike
a glove. I had a strong feeling
that I could be doing better at
time control and that my tools
could be more effective.

Then I found Ascend
(NewQuest, 2550 South Deck-
er Lake Boulevard, Salt Lake
City, Utah 84119; 800-887-
1814; $299). It's a RIM (Person-
al Information Manager), but
it's different from the ones men-
tioned above. Ascend was de-
signed by a time-manage-
ment company, not a software
company. NewQuest is a divi-
sion of the Franklin Institute,
and Ascend is a computer pro-
gram based on the Franklin sys-
tem and the Franklin Day Plan-
ner. This has crucial implica-
tions for the way you use As-
cend, and it accounts for the
program's success as a tool.

First, some background:
The Franklin Institute has
been doing time-management
consulting for years, with a cli-
ent list any company would en-
vy. Intel. Hewlett-Packard, Ap-
ple, Merrill Lynch, and Citt-
Corp are just a few noteworthy
Franklin graduates. Franklin de-
veloped the Day Planner (a pa-
per-based system) to help the
company's clients control
their time and their lives. The
important point here is that the
Franklin Institute has a proven
track record in teaching time
management and in produc-
ing time-management tools.

The computer has obvious
advantages as a time-manage-
ment tool (and some disadvan-
tages, too), so Franklin, in con-

cert with NewQuest, devel-
oped Ascend, which is a Win-
dows-based program.

You'll realize that this prod-
uct is different as soon as you
open the box. Included are
the software; three manuals; a
Franklin Day Planner, com-
plete with a set of forms and
a storage binder; a four-cas-
sette training seminar with a
workbook; a videocassette;
and a Franklin catalog.

Although almost everyone
will be tempted to install the
software and start using it
right away, you should take
the time to listen to the four
tapes and use the workbook.
These tapes discuss in detail
how to use the Franklin system
and the Day Pianner. If you
don't listen to the tapes, you'll
only scratch the surface of
what Ascend can do for you.

The Franklin Institute's ap-
proach to time management re-
quires discipline, but it's easy
to describe. You begin by de-
fining your most important val-
ues as a human being. From
these values flow your long-
range goals. From these long-
range goals flow intermediate
goals, and from these interme-
diate goals you construct
your daily task list. This hierar-
chy of values, long-range
goals, intermediate goals, and
daily task list is called the Pro-
ductivity Pyramid, and it's at
the heart of the Franklin sys-
tem. If you spend the time to
develop your personal Produc-
tivity Pyramid, your daily tasks
will be a significant part of
your long-range goals and
your human values. As a con-
sequence, you'll feel a deep
satisfaction with yourself.

After listening to the tapes
and getting in the Franklin
groove, you'll be ready to in-
stall the software. Instead of tak-
ing the usual 5MB-10MB of
hard disk space, Ascend us-
es less than 1.5MB. But don't
be fooled by this program's
modest size.

52 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

Ascend boasts an MDI-com-
patible interface with a
toolbar sporting buttons for
each of the program's mod-
ules. Most of these modules
mirror elements in the Franklin
Day Planner, included are Ap-
pointment Schedule, Priori-
tized Daily Task List (an ener-
gized to-do list), Daily Record
of Events, Telephone Book,
Red Tabs (important files),
Productivity Pyramid, Master
Task List, Focus (which
blocks the clutter on your
screen and gives you all the in-
formation on your highest-pri-
ority uncompleted task). Calen-
dar (a week-at-a-g lance view),
TurboFile (a free-form index).
Daily Journal (for your
thoughts), Quotes (for your
file of inspirational quotes),
and Network (for viewing oth-
er Ascend users' schedules
on a network).

You can print the contents of
these modules on letter-sized
paper or on the special Day
Planner paper provided.

The heart of the system is
the Prioritized Daily Task List
module, and most of the other
modules are integrated with it
or support It in one way or an-
other. In the Daily Task List,
you list each task you want to
complete for the day. You
then assign each a priority of
A (vital tasks that must be
done), B (important tasks that
should be done), or C (trivial
tasks that could be done).

Next, you rank the tasks with-
in each group with numbers
and sort the entire list. Prioritiz-
ing, ranking, and sorting can
be done by hand, or you can
use special dialog boxes that
make the process easy.

I've spent most of this page
talking about the Franklin sys-
tem rather than specifically
about Ascend, but Ascend is
more than just software. It's a
powerful tool specifically de-
signed to implement a thought-
ful, flexible, and elegant time-
management system. O

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HARDWARE CLINIC

Mark Minasi

What exactly !s

XMODEM, and how

does it make

sure that your data

arrives safely?

HOW MODEMS
WORK, PARTI

If you spend much time on
computer data services such
as CompuServe, GEnle, Amer-
ica Online, or, for that matter,
any of the thousands of pri-
vate bulletin board systems
(BBSs), you've had to set up
some kind of communications
software. Are terms such as
MNP. XMODEM. YMODEM,
V.32. and the like confusing
you? Then read on.

It may help to start the dis-
cussion with a statement of
the overall purpose of commu-
nications. The point of commu-
nications is to get bytes of da-
ta from one point to another as
quickly and reliably as possi-
ble, and that's where this
whole mess started. So when
you hear a new communica-
tions buzzword, ask, "How
does this help me get data
from point X to point Y?"

In the late seventies and the
early eighties, the first BBSs ap-
peared. Modems then typical-
ly transmitted at 300 bps, and
the kind of data that was be-
ing transferred was usually
text: either messages or text list-
ings of BASIC programs.

In those early days, you'd
transfer a fiie by setting your
computer to capture mode,
which meant that it would copy
every incoming byte to a disk
file. Then you'd tell the distant
computer to list the file you want-
ed to receive, as if your only de-
sire were to read the file as it
scrolled by on the screen. The
capture feature saved the file to
disk as it appeared on your
screen. When it was finished list-
ing, you'd close the file, and
you'd have your BASIC pro-
gram transferred. There would
be some extra trash above and
below the file, but you'd just
load the file into a text editor
and trim that off.

Now and then, however,
the transfer would become gar-

bled because of phone line
noise. In that case, you'd see
the garbled characters, and
you'd tell the remote system to
resend the file.

Hopefully, it would come
through OK the second time.
If not, you might conclude
that you'd just happened to
get a noisy iine today, and
you'd just hang up and dial
again, hoping for a better con-
nection. This was called
phone line roulette.

In this case, there were er-
ror-detection and error-correc-
tion mechanisms. The detec-
tion mechanism was you, the
human operator, noticing that
the incoming data looked
wrong. The correction mecha-
nism was also you, requesting
a resend. This crude system
worked for two reasons.

First, you were transmitting
at 300 bps. (Never say baud:
no matter what you've been
told, it doesn't stand for bits
per second.) The lower the da-
ta rate, the tower the error
rate. Bad bits appear on a nor-
mal phone line once in a blue
moon at 300 bps; they can ap-
pear every minute or so at
9600 bps. Error correction
was less necessary because
errors just plain didn't occur.

Second, the kind of data
that you were transmitting
could stand up to an error or
two — it was mainly English
text. If you saw an incoming
line of BASIC that read
FRONT 'Hello,' you knew that
FRONT was really PRINT gar-
bled. The built-in predictabili-
ty of English helped the error-
correction process.

As time went on. 1200-bps
modems became more popu-
lar. BASIC listings were re-
placed on bulletin boards by
COM and EXE files, files that
don't mean anything when
viewed by the human eye.

So a BBS operator named
Ward Christensen in the Chica-
go area invented a simple meth-
od for transferring data, a meth-

od that transfers data while
simultaneously finding and cor-
recting data garbled by trans-
mission noise. He called the
method XMODEM, and it looks
something like this.

Say station S (the sender) is
sending a 400-byte file to sta-
tion R (the receiver). Both
sides of the conversation must
be running a program that man-
ages a transfer according to
the rules of the transfer. You do
that whenever you tell your sys-
tem to transfer with XMODEM,
This insistence on both sides
agreeing is the linchpin of com-
munications protocols. Here's
how the XMODEM technique
works. (Because both sides
are controlled by a computer,
people don't have to worry
about this stuff, except for issu-
ing the commands to S and R
to get going,)

First, the sender must en-
sure that the receiver is ready
to receive the data. It does
this by waiting for a particular
one-byte signal from the receiv-
er, an ASCII code 21. also
known as NAK (negative
acknowledgment).

There's no significance to
this character — it was just pick-
ed at random. When R says
NAK to S, R is saying to go
ahead and start transferring. If
you wanted to, you could gen-
erate a NAK from your key-
board by typing Ctrl-U.

S is going to send the data
to R in 128-byte blocks. Before
the 128 bytes of each block,
however, it first sends an SOH
(Start Of Header) signal, which
is just an ASCII 1, something
you could generate with a Ctrl-
A, You've seen ASCII 1 before;
it's the smiley face that shows
up when you type a COM or
EXE file to the screen.

After the SOH, S sends an-
other byte, a block number
byte. The value of the byte is
1 for the 1st block, 2 for the
2nd, and so on. As bytes can
only hold values up to 255, the
value wraps around after 255.

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The 256th block would be numbered 0,
the 257th would be numbered 1, and
so on.

For the sake of redundancy, the
third byte repeats the block number —
but in another way. S subtracts the
block number from 255! The second
block number for our first block is,
then, 255 minus 1, or 254. Then S
sends the 128 bytes of data. The
block's almost finished, but there's one
more byte to go.

Recall that the whole purpose of this
exercise is to be able to detect errors. S
now adds something called a checksum
that will allow R to detect errors. The send-
er S takes all 1 28 bytes of the data block
and treats them as if they weren't ASCII
characters or binary data, but just a
string of 128 numbers. It then adds up
the 128 numbers to get a sum. That sum
is then divided by 256. The remainder,
believe it or not, is the checksum. (This

makes better sense when you do it in ma-
chine language; Ward knew what he was
doing.)

Here's an example. Suppose we had
a block of not 128 characters, but, for
ease of use, 11 characters. Let's use my
name in uppercase letters: fvlARK MINA-
Sl. Remember that it's 11 characters, not
10, because of the space between the
first and last names. The ASCII code for
M is 77, A is 65, R is 82, K is 75, a space
is 32, M is 77, I is 73, N is 78, A is 65,
S is 83, and I is 73. Add them up, and
you get a total of 780. Divide 780 by 256,
and you get 3 with a remainder of 1 2. So
12 is the checksum.

S has now sent the first block. It was
132 bytes long — 3 bytes in the header,
128 bytes of data, and 1 byte of check-
sum. Now let's see what R does with the
block.

First, it looks at the block number to
make sure that it makes sense — if block

27 arrives right after block 10, some-
thing's wrong. Assuming there's no troub-
le, it next examines the 128 bytes of da-
ta, ignoring the checksum for the mo-
ment. Using the 1 28 bytes of data, it com-
putes its own checksum in the same way
that the sender did. Now R examines the
checksum that S sent to be sure it's iden-
tical to its own.

This is the error-detection part — the
checksums must be the same. If they
are, R signals S that all is well by send-
ing a single byte, an ACK character.
ACK (positive acknowledgment) is ASCII
code 6, or Ctrl-R If the checksums don't
match, then the error-correction part
comes in, and R sends a NAK code.
When S receives the negative acknowl-
edgment, it resends the data block. R
checks the resent data block, and, hope-
fully, all is well. If not, S just keeps resend-
ing and R just keeps NAKing until they
reach max NAKs, at which point the trans-

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much, much more.

Over 345 combinations of viewing windows.

With the new LINKS 1S6 Pro you're not stuck with just one standard viewing window. With a fe«
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fer is terminated. Assuming tine first
blocl< has been received correctly, S
then sends the next 128 bytes of our 400-
byte file. Once that's been acknowl-
edged, there's a third block, and finally
there are only 16 bytes left. The 16 bytes
are filled out with either end-of-file charac-
ters or null characters and then sent.
Once that has been acknowledged by
R, S says, "That's all, folks," by sending
an EOT (End Of Transmission) charac-
ter, which is ASCII 4, or Ctrl-D. A final
ACK from R ends things.

A coupie of things may be nagging
at you about this protocol. First, why
send the block number twice, and
second, why subtract from 255? The
first question is easier: The block num-
ber is sent twice simply for insurance.
Remember that we don't trust the phone
lines. This is a fairly common practice in
communications and, for that matter, in
real life. If you've ever heard an announce-

ment like "Mr. Jones, Mr. Jones, please
pick up the white courtesy phone" in an
airport, you might ask yourself why the
announcer said Mr Jones's name twice —
was he supposed to pick up the phone
twice? No, of course not. The announcer
just wanted to be sure that Mr. Jones
heard his name.

But why subtract from 255? I thought
I'd try asking the source himself, so I
dropped a note on CompuServe to
Ward Christensen. His answers were
very helpful. "Why not?" he responded
with a grin. "Actually, if a line glitch oc-
curred that changed a particular block
number to something else, there's a
chance it might do two at a time." Thus,
anything that affected, say, all the 1 bits
would damage both copies of a block
number, if both block numbers in
XMODEM were equal. By subtracting
from 255, there's a side effect of convert-
ing all the 1s to Os and vice versa. Tak-

ing a binary number and converting its
Is to Os and Os to Is is called taking its
complement.

Ward observed that, in the case of the
systematic error that always damages Os
or 1 s, "the complement is not likely to get
similarly zapped. Also, the block number
isn't in the checksum, because I wanted
it separately checkable." This provides
an internal block check mechanism —
but that's not the only reason for this meth-
od. Ward explained that one of the pop-
ular processors of the time was the 8080
(no, that's not the 8088; the 8080 pre-
dates the 8088 by about eight years). It
had a built-in instruction that made us-
ing the complement for checking a sim-
ple matter.

That's XMODEM in some detail. We
needed that detail to understand how
you can speed up your file transfers with-
out buying a new modem or new soft-
ware. See you next month. D

by the game itself.

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PROGRAMMING POWER

Tom Campbell

ybu can find

the source code for

BANNER.C

on COMPUTE/NET

on GEnie

or America Online.

PC CHARACTER
ROM REVEALED

This month's program, BAN-
NER.C, digs deep into the
guts of your PC by using tlie
character ROM to display let-
ters eight times their normal
size in text mode. It shows
both an underused PC re-
source (the system font data)
and Sonne useful tricks of the
C trade: bit-shifting operators,
reading bit values, using array
notation for pointers, and read-
ing absolute addresses on the
PC. (You can find the source
code for BANNER.C on COM-
PUTE/NET on GEnie or Ameri-
ca Online.)

Banner asks you for a
string of up to ten characters
and a fill character, The fill char-
acter is what makes up the
dots in the letter — for exam-
ple, the asterisk character or
one of the extended ASCII
box characters. You can enter
the extended ASCII charac-
ters by holding down the Alt
key and pressing up to three
digits, creating a number be-
tween 0 and 255. I suggest
177, 178, 219, 248, and 254.
Then Banner displays the
string on the center row of
your screen.

Your PC video card has an
8x8 character set in its ROfvl,
even though, in the case of
EGAs and better, that's not
the default system font. But it's
there all the time to provide
compatibility with earlier adap-
ters. The dots that make up
the 8 X 8 font are found at lo-
cation F000:FA6E hex and are
laid out in 256 sets of eight
bytes each, with the first byte
making up the top row of dots
in each letter, the second
byte making up the second
row of dots, and so on. The ex-
ample below shows the layout
of the letter A.

The first byte, numbered 0,
contains the hex value 3Eh.
This makes little sense until

you view it as the binary value
01111100. Replace each of
the Is with an X, and you
have the top line of the A. The
next byte is hex C6h, or binary
11000110. You may notice
that bit 0 is unoccupied for al-
most every character, as is
byte 7. Bit 0 forms the space
between letters — it's just an
empty column formed by leav-
ing bit 0 of each of the rows of
bytes cleared to 0. An excep-
tion is the underline character,
which, appropriately, goes all
the way across the character
matrix. And byte 7 is the
space left for descenders —
the tails for g, /, p, q, and y.

Bit

76543210

Byte

XXXXX

XX XX

XXXXXXX

XX XX

The chart above isn't quite
accurate. The byte numbered
0 is actually byte 520. Remem-
ber that the uppercase A is AS-
CII 65, There are eight bytes
of data per character, fvlultiply
65 by 8, and you get 520. Up-
percase B is at 528, and C is
536. The formula, then, as it ap-
pears in the WriteChar{) rou-
tine, is CharacterRom = Char-
acterRom -i- Letter * 8.

CharacterRom was previous-
ly initialized and allocated at
the same time — another
handy C trick: char far "Char-
acterRom = (void ')
0xF000FA6E. This is identical
to char far "CharacterRom; ...
CharacterRom = (void *)
0XF000FA6E,

The previous example is
clearer in this case, because
we want to emphasize the na-
ture of CharacterRom as an
absolute address. The easy

part is explaining that
0)^000FA6E is hex notation
for the absolute address
whose segmentioffset value
is, as explained earlier,
F000:FA6E. That's where the
1024 bytes of character ROfvl
data appear. Let's dissect the
rest of the line piece by piece,
because much of it isn't what
it seems. The char means that
we will treat the address as a
pointer to a character. Since a
character is guaranteed by
the ANSI standard to be the
same size as a byte and since
C lets us use array notation
wherever we see a pointer, lat-
er we'll be able to calculate
the location of each row of char-
acter data like this, even
though CharacterRom wasn't
declared as an array: Bitmap
= CharacterRom[EachRow].

Let's use the top row of A,
binary 01 1 1 1 100, as an exam-
ple. The Binary numbers mir-
ror the physical layout of bits
in memory, so this loop starts
at the left bit and moves right
for (EachCol=7; EachCol>=0;
EachCol-),

The line "if (Bitmap & 1)" is
another good example of C's
terseness at work, taking advan-
tage of C's treatment of an if ex-
pression as an integer result. In
Pascal, you'd use this code: IF
(Bitmap AND 1) = 1 THEN.

Using the bitwise AND op-
erator of C to see whether a bit
is set makes it easier to see
what's going on. If the right-
most bit of Bitmap is indeed
set to 1, the cursor is posi-
tioned appropriately, and the
FillChar is written directly to
screen memory. If bit 0 is
clear (that is, with a value of 0
instead of 1), nothing hap-
pens. Finally, the byte is
pushed one bit to the right,
moving bit 1 into the 0 posi-
tion, 2 into the 1 position, and
so on. up to bit 7.

With only a little extra work,
you could beef up WriteChar( )
to center the text both vertical-
ly and horizontally. □

60 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

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ARTICLE BY
GREGG KEIZER

STALKING THE PERFECT, AFFORDABLE
PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY PC

W Forking at home is no picnic,
'Tlie hours can be brutal, the
alter-ego boss a demanding
slave driver, and the work
load sometimes erratic.

Still — and this goes for full-blown
home-based businesses, moonlighters,
and even anyone struggling to keep
up by working extra hours at home —
it's hard to beat. You can work when
you work best — late at night, for in-
stance. Office politics almost disap-
pear. And the harder you work, the
more you make (OK, maybe it doesn't
always work out like that).

But any home office success is due
as much to technology as to talent and
perseverance. Without the gizmos and
gadgets scattered around the house,
you wouldn't be able to do the work
you do, be as productive and profita-
ble, or even keep tabs on your clients.

The linchpin of home office success
is the personal computer. That one box
provides almost al! of the tools you'll
need, from those that crank out corre-
spondence or bills to the ones that man-
age numbers or volumes of data. It
plays the role of assistant, secretary, co-
worker, confidant, accountant, and
half a dozen others, all without salary
demands or time off.

Begin with the Box

Because it provides so many options
with so few drawbacks, it's crucial that
you have the perfect personal produc-
tivity PC in front of you. Since so much
depends on its ability to get jobs
done, you need the best-fitting comput-
er you can find.

But don't fall into the trap of thinking
the best PC also has to be the most ex-
pensive. Far from it. You can equip
your home office with an ideal PC for
as little as $1,600.

The perfect PC can begin with an al-
most empty box— a computer sans
drives and monitor — or it can start with
a basic system already configured
with an adequate array of memory,
disk drives, and video card. Though ei-
ther opening gambit works, the trend to-
day is for sellers to assemble a lineup
of stock PCs and then let you pick.
You can, of course, build the perfect
PC from scratch, but the advantages
are usually so inconsequential — the
main one tieing an ability to name the
brand of every component — that it's
rarely worth your time.

Instead, start by buying a capable
386 IBM PC compatible, selected for
low price and high power. It doesn't mat-
ter whether you buy your PC by mail or-
der or in a retail store, a superstore, or
even a discount warehouse or shopping
club. Just match the computer's speci-
fications with this list of features.

64 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

• 20-MHz 386 microprocessor

• 2MB RAM

• 100MB or larger hard drive

• 5Va- or SVz-inch high-density floppy
drive

• VGA monochrome monitor and video
card with 256K of video memory

• Keyboard

• MS-DOS 5.0 or DR DOS 6.0

• FCC Class B approval

Because PC prices continue to plum-
met— especially for machines centered
on the 386 — you can actually find this
core computer for a little more than
SI ,400. In fact, several mail-order
firms break or nearly break this
barrier, among them companies like In-

works just fine. More memory, a larger
drive, and color VGA would be nice, es-
pecially for heavy Windows use, but
what you get in this base machine can
handle the bulk of your chores. Be-
sides, you can slide past problems
with some ingenious software.

A 100MB hard drive may seem on
the small side, but with Stacker, an on-
the-fly compression/decompression util-
ity, you can effectively double the size
of the drive (certain kinds of files com-
press more compactly than others).
Stacker as software lists at $149; a fast-
er hardware/software version of Stack-
er (Stacker AT/16) lists for S249.

More memory? You'll find that 2MB
is enough for the basic DOS word proc-

TEN LOW-COST PC ADD-ONS

Buying extra punch and power for the
home office connputer doesn't have to
cost an arm and a leg. li you can stretch
the budget just one more time, here's
what you should consider.

1. Another megabyte of memory (may-
be two). A ItviB SIMIvl runs in the $50-
$60 range and is a snap— literally— to add
to a system that is set up for them.

2. A mouse. Even if you don't use Win-
dows, a mouse is a good bet. DOS soft-
ware—graphics and desktop publishing,
in particular — works with a mouse, too.

3. Another I/O card. Your PC probably
came with two serial ports and a printer
port. Another I/O board doubles the num-
ber of each— handy when you start add-
ing devices like modems, label printers,
and mice. Don't let the fact that you liave
four serial ports confuse you, though.
Ivlost PCs can only use two at a time. How-
ever, tiaving four installed will allow you to
leave your modem and your mouse at-
tached all the time, even if you have to
switch between them in software.

4. Another floppy drive. You'll spend
less than $70 for either a 5Vi- or SVs-inch
high-density drive.

5. A tower or minitower case. Most mail-
order PC makers will substitute a minitow-
er or tower case, as will shops that build

the PC to your specs. The larger case
makes it easier to add drives and cards.
And it can sit on the floor, out ol the way.

6. A disk-compression utility. Adding
something like Stacker, whether just the
software or the hardware/software version,
you effectively double the size of that
40N/1B hard drive to nearly 80fv5B.

7. A better keyboard. Pathetic is the
word for the keyboards many low-cost PC
manufacturers include. The OmniKey and
Keytronic keyboards are among the best.
The Omnikey/Ultra lists for $129.

8. Monitor arm. For as little as $75, you
can get your monitor off the desktop and
onto a swinging, mobile arm. Doing so can
cut neck pain (often the result of looking
down at a too-low monitor) and open up
more desk space for paperwcrK,

9. Power control center. Slip one of
these between the computer and the mon-
itor, and you've got four or five outlets,
surge protection, phone line filtering, and
one-stop power-up. Curtis and TrippLite
both make excellent centers that are sold
direct for $80 or so.

10. Disk cache. Another software se-
lection to beef up your PC is a program
like the $80 PC Kwik Powerpack, which
speeds up hard drive data retrieval by stor-
ing frequently accessed data in RAM.

sight, HD Computer, and FastMicro.
Closer to home, most cities sport a
handful of entrepreneurs who will as-
semble a PC like the one above for
about the same price.

To be on the safe side, budget
$1,500-$2,000 for the foundation of
your perfect home office PC. That
should account for shipping charges
(mail order) or sales tax (local), as well
as for any slight price differences if
you're set on a particular model.

What About Windows?

Just how good is this inexpensive PC?
Although we've cut corners in order to
cut costs, the fact is that for most
home office tasks this foundation

essor, database, spreadsheet, and tel-
ecommunications applications. Multi-
tasking— running more than one pro-
gram simultaneously — is possible with-
in that much RAM with DESQview or
GeoWorks.

Or you could opt for a task switcher
instead. Software Carousel can segre-
gate that 2MB of RAM into two or
three separate and smaller work areas
and then flip between applications
with the press of a couple of keys. If
you're sold on Windows, you'll feel
cramped in two megabytes — no doubt
about it — and you'll probably have to for-
go its multitasking capabilities. Making
this machine Windows-ready, though,
will only cost you around $100-$120.

Though color brightens up games
and educational programs and is a pre-
requisite for multimedia presentations
and some graphics work, you won't
mind the monochrome VGA monitor if
your home office work revolves around
words, data, and numbers. Most desk-
top publishing can be done without coi-
or, as well.

Of course, you can always add to
this perfect PC down the road when
your budget allows and your needs de-
mand it. Snap in more memory, up-
grade the video board, or replace the
monitor with a color model.

Everything Else Is Gravy

Let's say you have the essentials on
your desk, and some money burning a
hole in your pocket (OK, so it's not re-
ally burning, maybe just smoldering).

Customizing this rock-bottom com-
puter to fit your business won't bust
your budget, either. Depending on the
specifics, you can equip this machine
with the extras for as little as $500. You
just need to know the kind of work you
expect to do with the computer and
the options you need for that work.

A typing service or accounting prac-
tice requires a PC different from the
one required by a home desktop pub-
lishing business. And a full-time at-
home worker's PC should be different
from the one used to telecommute to
the office part of the week.

It's What's Inside That Counts

As you're building your prospective
home office PC, use this short check-
list to ask some smart questions about
what's inside.

• Can you easily add system RAM to
the motherboard by snapping in extra
SIMM chips? That's the simplest way to
beef up the PC's memory. You should
be able to insert at least 8MB of RAM
if you're using 1MB SIMMs.

• How many slots are still empty after
the necessary boards — I/O, video, and
disk controller — are in place? The
more expansion slots still open, the
more capability you can later add to
the computer. Demand three empty
slots, minimum,

• How many drive bays remain vacant?
Later, you may want to add another flop-
py or hard drive, or a CD-ROM or tape
backup device. Make sure the PC has
at least two empty bays, with one of
those large enough for a 5'/i-inch half-
height drive.

• Does the computer come equipped
with a cache, and if so, how large is it?
Cache RAM dramatically speeds up
some computer actions by acting as a
buffer between the fast processor and
slow RAM.

• Are the components from depend-

THE ULTIMATE

PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY

MACHINE

You get what you pay for. Although a
home office computer system ripe for
work can run you as little as $1,500, you
must make sacrifices to bring the cost
down that far.

The ultimate home office computer is
a far cry from the most affordable. It is
based on a state-of-the-art microproces-
sor, sports megabytes of memory, and
comes compiete with lots of extras.
Here's the current contender for the ulti-
mate home office PC.

• 33-MHz 486DX PC in a full tower case

• 8N/IB RAM, with a 256K RAM cache

• 200tv1B hard drive

• 5'/j- and 3V?-inch high-density floppy
drives

• Super VGA video card with 1ft/IB of
memory

• OmniKey/Ultra keyboard

• 120MB tape backup drive

• 15-inch NEC 3FGx multisync monitor

• Four serial ports and two printer ports

• Seiko Smart Label Printer Plus

• Logitech or Microsoft f(/louse

• 9600-bps modem

• MS-DOS 5.0

• Scanner with OCR software

• Software, including Stacker, Software
Carousel, and 386IVIAX memory
manager

The price for such a monster is almost
as overwhelming as its abilities: within a
couple of hundred dollars of $4,700.

Still, this is the home office computer
that can take you through the middle of
the 1990s. And such a computer may rap-
idly pay for itself by handing you the
tools to tackle jobs formerly out of reach
or by quickening the pace of your work.
And finally, remember that — depending
on your tax bracket, your state and local
income taxes, and the income from your
home office efforts— the effective price
for any home office computer system
may really be only 45 to 70 percent of
the purchase price. If you can deduct
the entire cost of the above system, lor
instance, it actually represents an out-of-
pocket expense of somewhere between
$2,115 and $3,290.

able, reputable manufacturers? Al>
though personal preference plays a
part here, took for recognizable
names on such things as the drives, vid-
eo card, and motherboard chip set.

No matter what your business
needs may be, your perfect PC sliould
be designed and built to deliver on the
promise of technology — to make your
time more productive and your busi-
ness more profitable. From here on,
we'll look at several specific personal
productivity applications and talk
about the hardware and expenditures
it will take to assemble the optimum ma-
chines to meet their requirements.

The Perfect Telecommuter

Still on salary, but working at home
with the help of your modem and the
phone lines? Lucky you — you get the
benefits of both worlds,

Build the perfect telecommuting PC
by starting with the basic 386 system
and adding the following.

• 9600- or 240Q-bps modem. Telecom-
muting usually depends on intensive
file transfers and remote connections
with the office network. A 9600-bps mo-
dem dramatically cuts the time you'll
spend online in a remote connection; a
2400-bps modem, though slower, is
less expensive. The Practical Peripher-
als Practical Modem 9600SA external
modem was just slashed to $399 list;
Everex's 2400-bps internal modem, the
Evercom 24, lists at $129. Also look for
19,200-bps modems to become more
common — and more economical.

• Fax board or fax modem. You'll
need a fax modem to supplement the
computer-to-computer connection. In-
tel's SatisFAXtion board lets you re-
ceive faxes in the background. New
low-cost SatisFAXtion boards will be re-
leased by the time you see this.

The bottom line. In the end, the to-
tal cost of the perfect telecommuting
PC: $1 ,900-$2,400.

The Perfect Publisher

Your spare bedroom can be the work
site that churns out company newslet-
ters, crisp presentations and propos-
als, fliers and brochures, and enough
other documents to paper the neighbor-
hood. Today's technology makes it pos-
sible for one talented person to write,
design, and produce camera-ready
copy in a single step on one machine.
Assemble the perfect desktop pub-
lishing PC by adding the following
items to the stock 386.

• Additional memory. Font- and graph-
ic-intensive documents cry out for
more RAM, so spend $100-$120 for an-
other 2MB of RAM in SIMMs and snap
them in yourself. Remember that if
your computer isn't equipped for
SIMMs or you aren't technically mind-
ed, a technician can usually do the job
in a few minutes for not much more
than you pay for the chips.

• Better video card. You can often in-
crease your monitor's resolution and
number of colors by either adding mem-
ory to your existing video board (this
strategy isn't always easy, or possible,
beyond 512K) or buying a new 1MB vid-
eo board. The Diamond SpeedSTAR
Plus VGA is a better-than-average VGA
card that lists at only $269.

• Scanner. You'll need a scanner to in-
corporate real-world images into your
publishing masterpieces. A quality
hand scanner, such as Logitech's Scan-

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE 65

Man 256, lists al $449. If you're scan-
ning large images or large quantities of
images, though, a flatbed scanner like
The Complete Page Scanner/GS (GS
stands for Gray Scale) is a much bet-
ter pick. It's also mors expensive at
$1 ,099.00.

• Full-page monitor. Squeezing desk-
top publishing projects onto a 14-inch
monitor is only inviting headaches. You
need a screen that shows a complete
page. Samsung's 15-inch Hercules-
compatible full-page monitor may be
hard to find, but the reward is an afford-
able $849 (list price) cure for the vid-
eo headaches in desktop publishing.

The bottom line. Total cost of the per-
fect publishing PC: $2,400-$2,900.

The Perfect Marketer

When your business depends on sell-
ing, you need to beef up your PC's abil-
ity to take calls and punch out direct
mail pieces.

Start with the standard 386SX sys-
tem and add these components.

• Fax board or fax modem. You can't
do business today without communicat-
ing by fax. Intel's $499 SatisFAXtion
board pulls in faxes while you work the
phones. By the time this is pnnted, In-
tel will have released new versions of

Typist makes data entry K'7ii,ij/f

the SatisFAXtion board with list prices
starting at $129 and specialty fax soft-
ware for use from within Windows. The
top-of-the-line model will support the
new 14.400-bps fax standard.
• Label printer. Processing orders and
printing labels — whether for shipments

or direct mail pieces — can try your print-
er's patience. Buy a label printer in-
stead, like Seiko's Smart Label Printer
Plus. This thermal printer uses one of
your PC's serial ports and can even
print from lists you create with your
word processor or database. As of this
writing, its list phce is $249.95, but dis-
count houses may carry it for far less.
• Voice mail system. You may be able
to get by with a two-line phone and an
answering machine, but a voice mail
system can direct messages and allow
customers to leave requests in individ-
ual voice mailboxes. The Complete
Answehng Machine, a $399 board, us-
es your PC's hard drive to store out-
going and incoming messages. If you
don't want to spend money on a sepa-
rate fax modem and voice mail system,
take a look at The Complete Commu-
nicator, a package that brings these fea-
tures together.

The bottom line. Total cost of the per-
fect marketing PC: $2,300-$2,400,

The Perfect Writer

Wordsmiths need a customized PC,
too. Whether you're pounding out the
Great American Novel or bringing
home the bacon with feature assign-
ments for newspapers or magazines.

Typist Plus Graphics— $595.00

Caere

100 Cooper Ct.

Los Gatos, CA 95030

(800) 535-7226

(408) 395-7000

Colorado Jumbo 120 DJ-10— $250.00

Colorado fvlemory Systems

800 S. Taft Ave.

Loveland, CO 80537

(800) 432-5858

(303) 669-8000

The Complete Answering

Machine— $399.00

The Complete Page Scanner/GS—

$1,099.00

The Complete PC

1983 Concourse Dr.

San Jose, CA 95131

(800) 229-1753

(408) 434-0145

Diamond SpeedSTAR Plus VGA— S269.00

Diamond Computer Systems
532 tVlercury Dr,
Sunnyvale. CA 94086
(408) 736-2000

Evercom 24— $129,00
Everex Systems
48431 Milmont Dr.
Fremont. CA 94538
(800)821-0806
(510)498-1111

PRODUCT INFORMATION

SatisFAXtion— $499.00

Intel

5200 NE Elam Young Pkwy

Hillsboro. OR 97124

(800) 538 3373

Scan Man 256 — $449.00

ScanMan 256 Micro Channel— $549.00

ScanMan 256 with Perceive OCR—

$549.00

ScanMan 32— $299.00

Logitech

6505 Kaiser Dr.

Fremont, CA 94555

(800) 231-7717

(510) 795-8500

OmniKey/Ultra— $1 29.00
Northgate Computer Systems
P.O. Box 59080
Minneapolis, MN 55459-0080
(800) 828-6131
(612) 943-8181

Practical Modem 9600SA— $399.00

Practical Peripherals
31245 La Baya Dr,
Westlake Village, CA 91362
(800) 442-4774
(818) 706-0333

Page Master (15-inch
Hercules-compatible monitor)— $849.00
Samsung Information Systems America
3655 N. First St.
San Jose, CA 95134
(800) 624-8999
(403) 434-5400

Smart Label Printer Plus— $249.95

Seiko Instruments USA

PC Products Division

1130 Ringwood Ct.

San Jose, CA 95131

(408) 922-5900

Software Carousel— $89.95
SoffLogic Solutions
1 Perimeter Rd.
ti;)anchester, NtH 03103
(800) 272-9900
(603) 627-9900

Stacker 2,0— $149.00
Stacker AT/16— $249.00
Stac Electronics
5993 Avenida Encinas
Carlsbad. CA 92008
(800) 522-7822
(619) 431-7474

66 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

OH NOI MORE

100 Brand New

Adventures!

Just when you thought they were finally safe diose green haired numbskulls
have blissfully blundered off towards new and greater perils.

Available in IBM PC compatible; Amiga and Atari ST formats.

PSYGNOSJS, 29 Saint Mary's Comr, Brooklinc, MA 02146 Telephone: (617) 731-3553 Fax: (617) 731-8379.

CIrcIa Reader Senrica Number 1G3

you can make use of some specialized
tools inside tine perfect PC,

Build up the PC's word-crafting prow-
ess with tfiese extras.

• Topflight keyboard. When your fin-
gertips mai<e money, they deserve the
best. Subjective though this may be,
you can't go wrong with Northgate's
OmniKey/Ultra, a comfortable, respon-
sive full-sized keyboard with function
keys both at the top and on the left
side. And it's less than $130.

• 2400-bps modem. Online research
pays for itself in time saved and aggra-
vation avoided. The most economical
way to connect to services such as
CompuServe and Dialog is with a 2400-
bps modem. The Everex internal mo-
dem is a good choice.

• OCR package and scanner. f\/1ost writ-
ers live and die by clips. Ideas germi-
nate from newspaper articles; files
bulge with background pieces torn
from magazines and photocopied
from books. You can keep all this infor-
mation digitally if you buy an optical
character recognition (OCR) program
and a hand scanner. Basic combina-
tion pacl<ages, such as Logitech's Scan-
fvlan 256 with Perceive OCR software,
cost approximately $550. Caere's Typ-
ist Plus Graphics, a $595 scanner/OCR
software pack, is near the top of the
line. Either of these packages can be

purchased for roughly 50-60 percent
of list price at discount outlets.

The bottom line. Total cost of the per-
fect whting PC: $2.000-$2,200,

The Perfect Accouniont

Every home office crunches numbers,
even if they're only on the business's
books. But for offices that specialize in
accounting, figures are everything.

To construct the perfect accounting
computer, include these peripherals
along with the core home office PC.

• More memory. Most state-of-the-art
spreadsheets, the number lover's best
tools, operate under Windows, Spend
$100-S120 on an additional 2MB of
RAM for snappier performance,

• Tape backup drive. Though every
hard drive should be backed up relig-
iously, that advice goes double for crit-
ical financials. The easiest and most
worry-free way to back up data is with
a tape backup drive. The Colorado Jum-
bo 120 DJ-10, a 120MB drive, is sim-
ple to install, backs up even when
you're not around, and only costs
about $250 — less through mail order,

• A math coprocessor. You can sig-
nificantly speed up really serious num-
ber crunching when you plug an
80387-20 math coprocessor chip into
your PC's empty socket. The least ex-
pensive ones can be found for $115-

$120 in mail-order advertisements.

The bottom line. Total cost of the per-
fect accounting PC: $2,000-$2,100.

Bringing It All Back Home

No matter what computer system you
buy, two things will always be in short
supply: RAM and hard disk space. If
you have the funds to splurge in any ar-
ea, buy a larger hard disk and more
RAM, Some experts recommend that
you estimate how much hard disk
space you'll need and buy twice as
much. But even if you do this, within a
year, you'll probably wish you had
more. Remember that a hard drive
twice as big as the one you're consid-
ering probably costs far less than a sec-
ond hard drive of the same capacity.

If you use software that accesses ex-
tended memory — Windows in particu-
lar— you'll know if you don't have
enough memory. Your applications
will fail for no apparent reason. If you
have only 2MB of RAM, upgrading
your machine to 4MB or more is a very
small investment, and it can make a tre-
mendous difference in performance.

In every business, performance is
the name of the game. It saves you
time and makes you money. It only
costs a little more to start out with the
perfect PC, but it will pay off every day
in persona! productivity, □

68 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

'iC'g

^^traordi,

fl^f

Terra

■■•^Qainsthi

MBl^'J]

creatures

i^*

.v^S'^j^l

--i^?^-

■^jS-^^A^;;^^

He^

^^^-^^^ru^i^r-V

Fee/ fhe Power. Experience the Magic.

• A swashbuckling adventure that will keep you riveted for hours' U€i

• Mesmerizing graphics created by the industry's top animators. M/rinir

• Stunning music, sound fx and speech adding a "3rd dimension" of play! if lf7lllll

• Easy to start playing, instantly absorbing, addictively challenging. UUmrutinb

• NOTE: Former experience with previous flight & Magic's is not required.

Available at your local software retailer or direct from New World at 1-800-325-8898
(or, 1-818-999-0607 outside U.S.) • P.O. Box 4302 Hollywood. CA 90078-4302

copyrighl ■ 1991 Mighl S Magic is a registered trademark of New World Computing. Inc. - IHM ^in-t-ns vhiwu. .Aitu:il Mn-t-ns iruv vjrv.

Distnbutodinihe US by Electronic Arts Distribution ' circle ReadorSon-lceNumbon.

SHAREPAK

Bruce M, Bowden

June's

SharePak oilers

cool relief

from hot computer

chores.

A HOT COLLECTION
OF SUMMER
SOFTWARE

This month's SharePak disk
greets the lazy days of sum-
mer with three programs that
make computing easier for
each member of the family.
COf^PUTECalc is a full-func-
tion calculator available at the
press of a key. The offering

Squirmer tries to satisfy his munchies.

Do family histories witii CUMBERi^ND TREE.

CUMBERUVND TREE is a high-
quality database that lets you
trace your genealogy in style.
And Squirmer challenges
your reflexes and your quick
thinking.

COMPUTE'S monthly Share-
Pak disk gives you the best of
PC shareware and freeware.
Each month, hundreds of titles

are downloaded and carefully
scrutinized. From these, we
choose the best. This saves
you, as a SharePak subscriber,
enormous time and expense!
Shareware is privately writ-
ten software that has been re-
leased to online services in
the hope that other online sub-
scribers will download it, find
it useful, and pay a registration
fee. The author, by mal<ing the
software available, is saying,
"Try it, and if you like it,
please reward
me for the ef-
fort I made to
produce it." To
encourage reg-
istration, many
authors give
phone sup-
port, provide
free updates,
and deliver oth-
er goodies to
registrants.

COMPUTECak

Put that worn
out four-banger

9 away for good,
because now
you can have
a full-function
calculator on
your computer
screen with the
press of a key!
COIVIPUTECalc
may be run ei-
ther as a nor-
mal program
or as a TSR.
When used as
a TSR, COfVl-
PUTECalc us-
es only 22K of
RAM!
COMPUTECalc sports such
handy features as mouse sup-
port, modifiable colors, user-
definable hot keys, keyboard
stuffing, and a help function.
The location of the calculator
upon the screen can be
changed by simply dragging
it wherever you like.
Just as with a standard

hand calculator, you can use
COfvlPUTECalc to add. sub-
tract, multiply, divide, calcu-
late percentages, and send fig-
ures to memory to be recalled
later;

COMPUTECalc is compati-
ble with any IBM PC, XT AT
or clone with DOS version 2.0
or higher.

CUMBERLAND TREE

CUMBERLAND TREE is a pro-
fessional-quality genealogy
program packed with special
features. Enter individual
names, along with dates and
places of birth, christening,
marriage, death, and burial,
and you can tie the names
together automatically as
both a family and extended
family structure. Print out ped-
igree charts, descendant
charts, family group sheets,
individual and marriage list-
ings, birthday and anni-
versary lists, and many other
reports. The pop-up menus
are friendly and easy to use
with extensive online help.

Ease of use is a hallmark of
this database. When a chii;d
is added, the father's sur-
name is automatically entered
and vice versa. (If the sur-
name isn't correct, then you
can simply overwrite it.)
When a place name is en-
tered once, it can be selected
from a pop-up window for-
ever after.

CUMBERLAND TREE runs
on any IBM PC, XT AT PS/2,
or compatible with 512K of
memory,

Squirmer 1.02C

Squirmer has a voracious ap-
petite for power peilets. He'll
stop at nothing to consume eve-
rything in sight! The more he
eats, the more he grows, and
the more points you earn. But
beware; the game is more dif-
ficult than it first appears.

Squirmer will run in CGA,
EGA, or VGA on any IBM or
compatible computer. n

70 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

With CarUIPUTE's SharePak, You'll

SHARE IN THE SAVINGS!

SAVE TIME

We carefully select and test all programs for you

SAVE MONEY

Each disk Includes two to five programs for one low price

SAVE KEYSTROKES

Our free DOS shell lets you bypass the DOS command line

June's

SharePak

disk

$1.99

per program!

Back Issues Available

OCT 91: NorthCAD-3D, computer-aided design; Conquest, a
great Risk-type game; WAXMAN, a challenging TSR chess
game: SPEAK, add speech to your compuler. {#CDSK1091)

NOV 91: Popcorn, an arcade game with excellent graphics;
Amortz, tigure loan payments; CopyTree, easily backup large di-
rectories; Cunning Football, a great football simulation; Directo-
ry Enhancer, makes your directories much easier to read.
(#CDSK1191)

DEC 91 : EZ-Menu, access programs with a single keystroke; Puz-
zleMaster, an assortment of challenging brainteasers;
PCBENCH, get a complete report on your system's perform-
ance. (#CDSK1291)

JAN 92: Hl-Lo Joker Poker, draw poker with a new twist;
LINEWARS, an excellent modem space-combat game;
ZIpZap, view and modify files and disk sectors; FormGen, gen-
erate original business forms. (#CDSK0192)

FEB 92: CredCard, financial register for credit cards; EZ-Dis-
klone Plus, make multiple, single-pass disk copies; PC VALET.
easy shell for DOS commands; TSRMAKER, make pop-up TSR
help and reminder screens. (#CDSK0292)

APR 92: AS-EASY-AS, full-fea(ured professional spreadsheet
program; GIFLITE, compress GIFs 40 percent; TSR Utilities, sev-
eral great utilities to help you work with TSRs. (#CDSK0492)
MAY 92: Sharks, battle man-eating sharks to get valuables; CD
Dot Challenge, the classic game computerized; RDIR, graphi-
cal charts of disk space usage; LZEXE, save disk space by com-
pressing EXE files. (#CDSK0592)

COMPUTE'S SharePak disk contains the best
of shareware — handpicked and tested by our staff — to
complement this month's focus. You'fl sample entertainment,
learning, and home office software at a great savings. Each
SharePak disk includes two to five programs plus complete
documentation for one low price:

$5.95 for 5%-inch disk

$6.95 for SVa-inch disk

For even more savings,
Subscribe to SharePak and receive
COMPUTE'S SuperShell FREE!

For a limited time, you can subscribe to COMPUTE's
SharePak and save more than 37% off the regular cost
of the disks—plus get COMPUTE's SuperShell FREE.
With a one-year paid subscription, you'll get

• A new 5V2- or SVj-inch disk delivered to your home
every month

• Savings of over 37% off the regular disk prices

• Advance notices of COMPUTE special offers

• COMPUTE's SuperShell at no additional cost!

Subscribe for a year at the special rates of $59.95 for
5%-inch disks and $64.95 for GVz-inch disks — and get
COMPUTE's SuperShell FREE]

COMPUTE's SuperShell requires DOS 3.0 or higher.

Dlsf^s available only lor ISM PC and compatibles. Offer good while

supplies last.

For Single Disks

Please Indicate how many disks of each format you would like:

5'A-lnch at SS.95 3'/t-lnch at S6.95

This month's disk

#CDSK1091

#CDSK1191

#CDSK1291

#CDSK0192

#CDSK0292

#CDSK0492

#CDSK0S92

Name .

Address .

City.

State/Pfovince .

ZIP/Postal Code-

Total Enclosed .

Check or Money Order

MasterCard

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Subtotal

Sales Tax (Residents of NC and NY, piease add appro-
priate saies tax for your area. Canadian orders, add 7%
goods and services tax.)

Shipping and Handling ($2.00 U.S. and Canada, $3.00 sur-
face mall, $5.00 airmail per disk}
Total Enclosed

Cr«dS Card No. ,

Exp. Date _

Signature .

Subscriptions

I want to save even more! Start my one-year subscription to COM-
PUTE's SharePak right away. With my paid subscription, I'll get a
FREE copy of COMPUTE's SuperShell plus all the savings listed above.

Please indicate the disk size desired:

5%.inch at $59.95 per year 3',4.inch at $64.95 per year

For delivery outsfde the U.S. or Canada, add $1 0.00 for postage and handling.

{Required)

Daytime Telephone No.

Send your order to COMPUTE's SharePak, 324 West Wendover Avenue,
Suite 200, Greensboro, North Carolina 27408.

All orders must be paid in U.S. funds by check drawn on a U.S. bank or by money order.
MasterCard or VISA accepted for orders over S20, This otter wifl be filled only at the above
address and is not made in conjunction with any oth^r magazine or disk subscription of-
fer. Please allow A-6 weeks lor delivery of single issues or for subswiption to be^in. Sor-
ry, but telephone orders cannot be accepted.

Important Notice: COMPUTE's ShareP^ Is not associated with COMPUTE's
PC Disk. Please order SharePak separately.

PRODUCTIVITY CHOICE

This feature-rich operating
system is an attractive alternative
to MS-DOS 5,0.

Tony Roberts

DR DOS 6.0

When it comes to choosing a
DOS for their computers,
most people simply take what
comes bundled with their sys-
tems and look no further. Now,
there's good reason to be-
come an active participant in
choosing which operating
system is right for you.

DR DOS 6.0 from Dig-
ital Research is a brawny
mixture of operating sys-
tem and utilities that ap-
pears to stand just a shade tall-
er than its market rival MS-
DOS 5.0.

in addition to the standard
menu of operating system fea-
tures, DR DOS has enhance-
ments to many commands, in-
cluding options that let you
customize and control your
boot-up. Pius it has software for
disk caching, disk optimization,
and data compression.

To help those suffering from
CONFIG.SYS confusion, Digital
recently released an adden-
dum to the documentation ti-
tled Optimization and Config-
uration Tips. It attempts to clar-
ify some of the confusing points
about using DR DOS and its op-
tions, especially its memory-
management software. Along
with the addendum. Digital
sent a disk that includes up-
dates and bug fixes for several
of the system's modules.

One of my favorite DR DOS
features is its bank of CON-
FIG.SYS commands; this
makes it possible to keep sev-
eral system configurations in
one CONFIG.SYS file and to se-
lect the appropriate one at
boot-up. The SWITCH com-
mand does this by waiting for
an operator response and
then branching to the select-
ed subroutine. The TIMEOUT
command makes this process
even more powerful by allow-

ing the system to switch auto-
matically to the first subroutine
if no input is received within
the timeout period.

Thus, you can set up a CON-
FIG.SYS that will boot up your
defaults unattended, but if you
want a special system setup,
you can simply interrupt the
process with a keystroke and
make the appropriate selec-
tions. And if you put a question
mark at the beginning of any
statement in the CONFIG.SYS,
DR DOS pauses and asks if
you want that statement exe-
cuted. TIMEOUT can be used
here, too: If no response is giv-
en before the timeout period ex-
pires, the statement is ignored.

If your machine has at least
a 286 processor and 1MB of
memory, you can take advan-
tage of DR DOS's extensive
set of memory-management
utilities. You also can load the
operating system into high mem-
ory, freeing conventional mem-
ory for applications. A386 or bet-
ter machine lets you load de-
vice drivers, DOS data areas,
and some of your own TSRs in-

to upper memory as well.

The controls for managing
memory are somewhat com-
plex and challenging to fine-
tune. However, Digital seems
committed to providing help in
this area, having set up a down-
load-only bulletin board and a
"faxback" information facility to
provide commonly requested
guidance and the latest news
about compatibility problems.

DR DOS also includes sev- ,
eral disk-optimization tools. A
version of the Super PC-Kwik
disk cache— one of the most re-
spected caching programs
around — is part of the system.

SuperStor, a data-compres-
sion program, lets you nearly
double the storage capacity of
your hard disk drive, As you
write data to the disk, a TSR
compresses it, and then it de-
compresses the data as it's
read back. This process con-
sumes a bit of extra time dur-
ing reading and writing, but
the extra room on the hard
disk may be well worth it.

The amount of space it can
save depends on the type of

72 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

files your disk holds. Executa-
ble program files are the least
compressible, while data files
typically can be packed into
smaller spaces.

Another bonus is DISKOPT,
which defragments disks and
sorts directories. While not as
feature-laden as similar stand-
alone programs, DISKOPT
beats living with severe frag-
mentation for lack of appropri-
ate defragging software.

OR DOS also provides the
standard DOS commands;
however, while they work as
you'd expect, many of them al-
so include options and switch-
es that give you more power.

The extended directory
(XDIR) and delete (XDEL) com-
mands, for example, are likely
to become two of your favor-
ites. XDIR allows you to build
directories the way you like to
see them — sorted by date, ex-
tension, or attribute — much as
the beefed-up MS-DOS 5.0
commands permit. However,
the XDEL command extends
the same powers to the delete
function. With XDEL, you can
delete every BAK file on your
entire hard disk with the com-
mand XDEL V.BAK /S. This util-
ity prompts you for confirma-
tion before it races through all
of your subdirectories looking
for files to erase.

DR DOS makes it easy not
only to erase files but also to
unerase them: An UNDELETE
command and two additional
levels of protection against ac-
cidental erasure are included.
DISKMAP makes a copy of the
current file allocation table,
which can later provide valua-
ble information to UNDELETE
about where the file resided on
the hard disk, As long as that
space isn't occupied by anoth-
er file, UNDELETE should be
able to recover the deleted file.

DELWATCH provides a

greater level of protection by
hiding, rather than erasing, de-
leted files. When DELWATCH,
which runs as a TSR, is active,
it keeps track of a certain num-
ber of files (200 is the default)
which it labels pending delete.
These are files that you've de-
leted that are no longer visible
in your directory listings. How-
ever, DELWATCH keeps these
files on disk and doesn't actu-
ally delete them until it reaches
its 200-file limit or disk space
runs out. When either of these
occurs, DELWATCH begins ac-
tual deletion, beginning with the
oldest file on its list.

One rap against DR DOS
6.0 is that floppy drive access
is slow. Also, there's no ver-
sion of BASIC packed with it.
And although DR DOS 6.0 in-
cludes ViewMAX, an icon-
based graphical user inter-
face, as GUIs go, it's hardly
worth mentioning.

But there's much to make
up for these few deficiencies
DR DOS e.O's other features
include MOVE, used to easily
relocate files or subdirecto-
ries; TOUCH, a quick and
easy file date-stamping utility;
FILELINK, which permits trans-
fer of files between two com-
puters via their serial ports; and
PASSWORD, which provides
password security for files or
paths. It also includes a full-
screen text editor.

Most potential DR DOS us-
ers will ask about compatibili-
ty. In the past, some software
manufacturers were hesitant
to lend support to DR DOS.
When clashes between the op-
erating system and the soft-
ware occurred, DR DOS was
often blamed.

But that's changing, accord-
ing to officials at Digital Re-
search. Several computer ven-
dors, including CompuAdd,
now pack DR DOS with the sys-

0 Digital Research.

DR DOS 6.0

Operating System for I'crsoiial Computers

Utvlciish the power of
your PC with the
most advanced, powerful
and feature-rich DOS.

terns they sell. The growing ac-
ceptance of DR DOS 5.0, and
now DR DOS 6.0, has awak-
ened many other vendors to
the importance of making cer-
tain their products interact with
this operating system.
Users of Microsoft Windows

3.0 will find that DR DOS 6.0
and Windows get along fine,
but early versions of Windows

3.1 and DR DOS 6.0 met in a
head-on collision. Aware of
the apparent Incompatibility,
Digital Research has affirmed
its commitment to ensuring
compatibility with Windows.

All of this combines to
make DR DOS an excellent al-
ternative to MS-DOS, formerly
the only game in town. So if
you're in the market for a new
operating system, you should
definitely consider DR DOS
6.0. It performs well and offers
many options that will enhance
your work every time you sit
down at your computer. D

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JUNE 1992 COMPUTE 73

PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY

Daniel Janal

Relaxation, exercise,

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PROFESSIONAL
VICTIMS

My wrists hurt. My eyes throb.
No, I haven't been mugged, I
am a victim of my computer.

Too much Solitaire. Too
muchTetris. Enough repetitive
motions to cause pain. You
l<now the l<ind of pain I'm talk-
ing about if you play addictive
games, Those are the ones
you start playing as you wait
for the last calls of the day to
come. Then you keep playing
for another hour figuring you'll
only sit in traffic if you leave.
Suddenly it's 8:00. Your eyes
are tearing up from continual
stress and focus, but you play
anyway That's addiction.

After days, weeks, and
months of repetitive activity —
not just playing games but en-
gaging in business activities
as well — you could feel severe
pain in your wrists, jarring
strain in your eyes, or an ach-
ing soreness in your back,
shoulders, or neck.

Constant work at the com-
puter can lead to serious and
permanent damage. Julia S. La-

cey spent three years study-
ing the effects of computers
and stress in the workplace,
and the findings are distress-
ing. One of the most debilitat-
ing diseases, carpal tunnel syn-
drome, which causes severe
pain in the hands, wrists and
arms, now accounts for 50 per-
cent of all workplace illnesses,
according to tfie Occupation-
al Safety and Health Administra-
tion (OSHA). Five years ago
the figure was only 2 percent.

Lacey's CRT Computer Well-
ness Survey shows 67 percent
of full-time computer users
have headaches, 48 percent
have neck aches, and 29 per-
cent have both backache and
shoulder ache. "That's not an
easy way to get work done,"
she says.

She advises workers to get
good equipm-ent and set it at
proper heights: Monitors
should be at eye level; key-
boards should be placed so
that your elbow forms a 90-
degree angle between your
shoulder and hand.

You should also take
breaks every 30 minutes. "You
will be healthy and pain-free on-
ly if you move about at your
workstation and get away rou-
tinely for work-productivity
breaks," says Lacey, who con-
sults on ergonomics for com-
panies and has coauthored
with two doctors a book
called How to Survive Your
Computer Workstation: 15
Easy Steps to \Abrl<station Com-
fort. "Every study on the hu-
man body reinforces this con-
cept." Stretching every five or
ten minutes for a few seconds
will also help your body,
which was not designed to sit
in a chair for long pehods. Tak-
ing frequent productivity
breaks, such as going for
mail, can help reduce stress,
Lacey asserts.

Other surprising sugges-
tions based on research
make Lacey's book a must-
read for designing offices in

the home or large businesses.
For instance, to reduce eye-
strain, she suggests that you

• Move the monitor four
feet from the eye.

■• Turn down the monitor
light to the lowest you can see;
then raise it a tad to reduce
eye fatigue and stress.

• Blink, if you have strained
or dry eyes. To remember
this, place a note on your mon-
itor that says, "Blink."

To reduce stress, Lacey sug-
gests several exercises and
tips. Including the following:

• Glance away from the mon-
itor often to refresh your eyes.

• Breathe deeply to lower
blood pressure and provide a
feeling of tranquility.

• Get away from the monitor.

"Some suggestions are con-
trary to long-accepted compa-
ny practices," says coauthor
Howard Levenson, O.D., of the
Marin Optometric Group in San
Rafael, California. "However,
when frequently refreshed, work-
ers feel better and are more
productive. Attendance re-
cords improve, and medical
claims decrease."

Proper computer use need
not be expensive. Many peo-
ple have reduced a wrist
ache by using a foam pad
that fits in front of the key-
board. You can find wrist sup-
ports in computer stores.

Lacey also cautions that
problems you experience
might not be computer relat-
ed. For instance, optometrists
report that 30 percent of peo-
ple have visual problems that
are undetected, uncorrected,
orundercorrected. It's no won-
der if these people blame
their monitors. People who are
overweight have frequent back-
aches. They may blame their
chairs, although in reality their
weight causes the pain.

Once 1 have done my exer-
cises and rested my eyes, I
can return from my break to
play Tetris with a relaxed
mind and clear eyes. O

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Yfou bought a computer because
you thought it would help you or-
ganize your life. But now you're so
busy that you scribble notes on
scraps of paper and then forget
where you put them. When a client
calls to respond to the letter you sent
him last month, you can't remember
who he is or what you told him. You
miss deadlines because you can't
squeeze everything onto your calendar.

If these experiences sound familiar,
you're not alone. Information anxiety is
the scourge of the 1990s, but it's noth-
ing that a trip to the software doctor
can't cure. The prescription isn't pills: it's
PIMs — Personal Information Managers.

Steve Garfein, an Irvine, California,
consultant who works at home and us-
es a Windows-based Plfvl from Polaris
Software, got hooked on PIMs three
years ago.

"For years, I had an office manager
to perform many of the functions that
PackRat does," Garfein says. "I no long-
er have an office manager. I wouldn't
know what to do with one."

Software that tracks appointments,
files away addresses, and organizes
the clutter that tends to pile up on eve-
ry desk has come a long way since
Borland Internationa! introduced Side-
kick in 1984. Today, there are some 40
PIMs on the market, ranging from rela-
tively simple programs that track birth-
days and Boy Scout troop meetings to
sophisticated project managers capa-
ble of handling million-dollar projects.
Fully featured programs with capabili-
ties for note taking, schedule tracking,
contact management, and planning
now start at under $100.

"Word processing was the applica-
tion for the 1980s," says Michael Jim-
merson, a Tucson lawyer who uses
PackRat. "I think that PIMs are going to
be the software for the 1990s."

Here's why PIMs are so popular:

1 . A PIM means never missing an ap-
pointment. PIMs can be programmed
to sound an alarm or flash a message
to alert you to a meeting you have to at-
tend or a phone call you're scheduled
to make. Karri Riedel, a secretarial
temp in Perrysburg, Ohio, says she us-
es Chronologic's Instant Recall on her
home computer to keep tabs on birth-
days, doctors' appointments, and even
her daughter's Brownie meetings.

2. A PIM means never losing a
phone number, PIMs let you create an
electronic database that stores a per-
son's name, address, phone number,
fax number, nickname, birthday, favor-
ite restaurant, and other helpful tidbits.
If you have a modem, you can even
command the PIM to dial the phone
number for you at the touch of a key.

3. A PIM means never letting a dead-

78 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

line sneak up on you. PIMs that double
as project managers not only tell you
when a project is due but generate de-
tailed graphs and charts that show
what you (and your colleagues)
should be doing every day in order to
get the job done on time. SureTrak Pro-
ject Scheduler helps you see how a pro-
ject is going, pinpoint trouble, and get
yourself back on track. For novice pro-
ject managers. On Target has a sched-
uling assistant that guides you
through the planning process.

4. A PIM means never losing an im-
portant file, or even an unimportant
one. PIMs excel at sifting through
electronic data to find the item you're
looking for. Most word processors
lack such powerful search features, forc-
ing you to hack your way through a
thicket of DOS filenames. Info Select,
for example, lets you retrieve files by
simply typing the letter G (for get) plus
the first two or three letters of the topic
you're searching for. PIMs can also
keep tabs on papers stashed in your fil-
ing cabinet. Garfein says he logs all his
paper files by keyword so he won't
have to search for them manually

5. A PIM means never retyping any-
thing. Most PIMs let you export data to
word processors, spreadsheets, and
other programs. PackRat, for example,
offers a dynamic data exchange (DDE)
macro that lets you effortlessly plug in-
formation into Microsoft Word for Win-
dows, Excel, and Ami Pro. Garfein
says he uses PackRat before meeting
with a client to ferret out pertinent infor-
mation. Then he dumps the data into
his word processor, prints it out, and
files it in his Day-Timer. "PackRat
helps me focus on that client as if he
were my only client," Garfein says.

6. A PIM means never looking like
an amateur. PIMs not only help you get
your own affairs in order, but many of
them also have powerful report-gen-
erating features that show the world
you're organized, too. That's important
if you need to make business presen-
tations or print out data in a form your
colleagues can understand. Syman-
tec's GrandView, for example, lets you
turn rough outlines into well-organized
plans, proposals, reports, and even Har-
vard Graphics slides.

7. A PIM means never having to
read between the lines. Unlike paper
calendars and schedulers, PIMs give
you lots of space to enter information
about important events. Info Select, for
example, can accommodate as many
as 10 million characters per database.
Instant Recall lets you type up to 30
pages per entry. "I can't see myself go-
ing back to a manual calendar," says
Riedel, who uses Instant Recall.

8. A PIM means never having to

make a list. Because PIMs let you
build your own database of people,
events, and topics, they're useful for
market research and customer mail-
ings, Lotus Agenda even has an infor-
mation-sifting feature that lets you gath-
er information from external sources
such as CD-ROM, electronic mail, and
online databases and sort it by compa-
ny, topic, or publication.

9. A PIM means never having to
throw anything away. Because PIMs
store information electronically, there's
never a need to clean out the file cabi-
net only to find out two days later that
you threw out the one piece of informa-
tion you really needed. Charles Olsen,
a Dickinson, Texas, mainframe comput-
er operator, says he's using Agenda to
store notes for a science fiction novel
he's working on. He uses one Agenda
view (or category) to store several de-
tailed items about helicopter specs.

10. A PIM means never losing those
little pieces of paper. When PIMs like In-
stant Recall. Info Select, and Sidekick
are run memory resident, you can pop
up an electronic notepad, write a
note, and retrieve the information later.
PackRat offers the same convenience
for Windows users. "I'd write things
down on a little piece of paper: then,
six months later, i'd find the piece of pa-
per and have to cail and apologize,"
Olsen says. "With Instant Recall, I can
keep the promises I've made."

There's only one good reason not to
get a PIM: if you find the idea of becom-
ing efficient terrifying.

Organization Tools

Unlike software that helps you write let-
ters and crunch numbers, personal in-
formation management software
doesn't fall into one neat category.

Some programs, such as Micro Log-
ic's Info Select 2,0 and Chronologic's
Instant Recall 1.2, track everything
from the names of contacts to birth-
days. Others, like Symantec's On Tar-
get and Time Line 5.0 and Primavera
Systems' SureTrak 2,0, are actually
specialized project managers capable
of managing not only your own informa-
tion and appointments but also those
of your entire department or company.

General-purpose PIMs are ideal for
lawyers, accountants, and other peo-
ple who sell their time and bill by the
hour. Some PIMs can time client
phone calls to the nearest second.
PIMs are also good for people who
sell products or information and need
fast facts at their fingertips. Project-
management software, by contrast, is
better suited to event planners, adver-
tising executives, software developers,
and other people who manage pro-
jects that take more than a couple of

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Circle Pleader Service Number 232

PRODUCT LiST

Sidekick— $99.95

PackRat— $395.00

Borland international

Polaris Software

1800 Green Hills Rd

17150 Via Del Camoo Ste 307

P.O. Box 660001

San Diego, CA 92127

Scotts Valley, CA 95067

(800) 338-5943

(800) 331-0877

Requires IBM PC or compatible, 1MB, and

Requires IBM PC or compatible and 512K.

Windows.

Instant Recall— $99,95

SureTrak Project Scheduler— $795.00

Chronologic

Primavera Systems

5151 N. Oracle, Ste. 210

SureTrak Division

Tucson, A2 85704

1574 W 1700 S

Salt Lake City, UT 84104

(bUO) d4o-49/U

Requires IBM PC or compatible arxJ 512K.

(801)973-9610

Requires IBM PC or compatible and 640K.

Who-What-When— S295.00

Chronos Software

Maximizer Lite— $79.95

555 Deharo St., Ste. 240

Richmond Software

San Francisco, CA 94107

6400 Roberts St., Ste. 420

(415) 206-0580

Burnaby, BC

Requires IBM PC or compatible and 51 2K,

Canada V5G 4C9

(800) 663-2030

Agenda— $395.00

Requires IBM PC or compatible and 512K

Lotus Development

(advanced and LAN versions also avail-

55 Cambridge Pkwy.

able).

Cambridge, MA 02142

(800) 343-5414

GrandView— $295.00

Requires IBM PC or compatible and 640K.

On Target— $399.00

Time Line— $699.00

Info Select— $149.00

Symantec

Micro Logic

10201 Torre Ave.

RO. Box 70

Cupertino, CA 95014

Hackensack, NJ 07602

(800) 441-7234

(800) 342-5930

Requires IBM PC or compatible;

Requires IBM PC or compatible and 256K.

GrandView requires 320K; On Target re-

quires 1MB and Windows (2MB and

Microsoft Project— $695.00

mouse recommended): Time Line requires

Microsoft

640K.

One Microsoft Way

Redmond, WA 98052-6399

Texim Project— $1,295.00

(800) 426-9400

Texim

Requires IBM PC or compatible

2MB

833 Portland Ave.

(80386 CPU and 3MB recommended).

St. Paul, MN 55104

and Windows (DOS version afso available).

(612) 290-9627

Requires IBM PC or compatible, 640K,

Ascend— $299.00

and 3MB hard disk space; mouse

NewQuest

recommended.

2550 Souttn Decker Lake Blvd.

Salt Lake City, UT 84119

(800) 887-1814

Requires IBM PC or compatible,

1MB, and

Windows.

days and irivolve a team of people.
Some examples of project-manage-
ment software are Microsoft Project,
Time Line, and Texim Project. Tfiey
help a manager — or a team of manag-
ers— keep track of a project,

"A PIM tracks your time hour by
hour by hour; fvleet Bill, paper due—
that kind of stuff," says Scott Davison,
marketing manager for Symantec's pro-
ject-management group. "Project-man-
agement software lets you build a fair-
ly complex model to track your pro-
jects. Instead of just getting a snapshot
of what's going on, you see that Task
A can't start until Task B is finished."

If this makes project-management
software sound a little daunting, in

BO COMPUTE JUNE 1992

some respects it is. Time Line, a corpo-
rate favorite, has fielped major defense
contractors keep tabs on multimillion-
dollar projects. Time Line also helps
managers keep track of things like
tasks split between two employees
when one of them goes on vacation.

Even so, project-management soft-
ware isn't just for Fortune 500 compa-
nies, Davison says. To target smaller
businesses, Symantec recently intro-
duced On Target, a simplified project-
management program that runs in fVli-
crosoft's Windows environment.

"What we realized was that there
was a large audience of middle man-
agers and small-business people who
could benefit from this technology but

who thought it would be too complex
to learn," Davison says. "Now general
business people are recognizing this
as a valuable tool, not just the profes-
sionals with calculators on their belts."

Workfllikes

It's important to find a PIM that works
the way you do.

If your organization or business is
small and you don't have many appoint-
ments or names to keep track of, you'll
probably be able to get by just fine
with a paper calendar, a Rolodex, a spi-
ral notebook, and Post-it notes.

But as your company gets bigger
and more complex, you ought to con-
sider an electronic organizer to manage
your data and your time, fvlarketers, jour-
nalists, public relations people, event co-
ordinators, and scout troop leaders can
all benefit from PIfvls. Lawyers can use
PIMs to track filing dates; doctors can
use PIMs to schedule patients.

Once you've decided to buy a PIM,
figure out which aspect of your busi-
ness is disorganized and buy a pro-
gram to solve your specific problem.
The PIM should let you take notes, man-
age customer contacts, track your
schedule, and plan activities. Look for
a program that can perform quick
searches to isolate individual notes.

At the same time, it's a good idea to
stay away from any program with so
many bells and whistles that it will only
confuse your organization efforts. And
don't buy a program that takes more
time to learn and to keep up than it
now takes to paw through your clutter.

If you spend a lot of time on the
phone and need rapid access to large
stacks of notes and other text- based da-
ta, consider Info Select 2.0, Instant Re-
call 1.2, or Sidekick 2.0, ail of which
are TSRs that pop up at the touch of a
key For Windows users, PackRat 4.0 is
a f'lM created to take advantage of Win-
dows' powerful linking features.

Agenda 2,0 is a powerful tool for peo-
ple who need to organize and cross-
reference large amounts of text-based
data. Who-What^When 2.2 is ideal for
tracking appointments. GrandView 2.0
is best if you prefer to manage your
information by outlining. Also take a
look at Ascend, a PIM created by the
Franklin Institute (covered in the
"Point & Click" column in this issue).

It's also important to remember that
whichever PIlVl you buy it's only as use-
ful as the data you put into it.

"I think there's this voodoo that's sup-
posed to occur when you get organized
electronically," Tarter says. "A disorgan-
ized person isn't going to get organized
just by installing a PIM on his computer."
But a little organizational effort goes a lot
further when a PIM is involved. 3

m WORKS

Robert Bixby

THE NEW VECTOR

It wasn't so long ago that the
only option for vector drawing
on the PC was Micrografx PC
Draw. Then it was big news
when Adobe created the PC
illustration and design niche
by porting Illustrator from the
Macintosh to the PC. The big
news was followed by a small
thud, unfortunately. So much
had to be left behind that Illus-
trator's giant leap turned out to
be a baby step for mankind.
Adobe Illustrator, though still
available, was soon buried by
the currently reigning big
three— CorelDRAW!, Micro-
grafx Designer, and Comput-
er Support's Arts & Letters.

The competition has been
fierce in this arena, with the an-
te being raised first by one's
hotshot programmers and
then by another's, with mas-
sive clip art files, followed by
massive typeface libraries, fol-
lowed by ever more bizarre
nneans of manipulating the
drawing (perspective, warp-
ing, and extruding routines), fol-
lowed finally by charting.
Watching them slug it out
makes me marvel that all
three are still standing. But
what's really amazing is that
new kids l<eep appearing,
ready to join the fray.

The first newcomer to ap-
pear on my desk was Harvard
Draw from Software Publish-
ing. It features layers, which
are like acetate sheets laid
over the drawing surface. Lay-
ers allow you to construct a
multiple-level drawing, and
they keep distinct systems
separate in mechanical draw-
ings. It could generate multi-
ple copies of an object in a
circular pattern or in perfectly
placed columns and rows.

An onscreen help line pro-
vides the options available as
each icon in the toolbox is
selected. This will be appreci-
ated by beginners, and it's
easy to turn it off so veteran

Harvard Draw artists won't
have to look at it anymore.

Harvard Draw features auto-
trace and many of the drawing
features familiar in illustration/
design software, but it also has
some innovations that will force
the past masters to run to
catch up. One of the innova-
tions in this product is its script-
ing language, which allows you
to write and edit drawings with
a text editor. Simply copy the
text file into the Windows Clip-
board from a text editor while
Harvard Draw is running, and
the commands you've speci-
fied {with commands like open-
draw; set fillnone; set-
outlinecmyk
0,0,0,100) will
be carried out.
Harvard Draw
also allows you
to fit text to
more than one
curve, group
and combine
objects, cut
holes in ob-
jects, paste
copies of an
object to a
path, blend

shapes and colors, perform
unusual gradient fills (the mo-
tifs include such exotica as a
12-pointed star), mix color on
a CMYK or an RGB model, fill
an open path, automatically
generate regular polygons,
choose from a 16-level undo,
get context-sensitive help,
and more.

Soon after my encounter
with Harvard Draw, I received
a telephone call from a publi-
cist about a product called
Professional Draw (from Gold
Disk, the preeminent profes-
sional software developer for
the Amiga),

As of this writing. Profession-
al Draw is still in beta, with
some functions unimple-
mented, so I can't comment
on its trace engine, for exam-
ple. However, Professional
Draw is not arriving without a

track record. It's the prime
choice for vector drawing and
illustration/design software on
the Amiga. Its arrival is a little
like that of Adobe Illustrator —
we wait with bated breath to
see to what degree we can
make a PC with Windows per-
form like an Amiga. Making it
behave like a Macintosh
proved beyond the powers of
Adobe's best programmers.

Gold Disk has the benefit of
arriving on the scene with
many of the problems already
solved. 1 am pleased to report
that Professional Draw is very
intuitive, jackrabbit fast, and
not bug-ridden, which is high

praise indeed for beta soft-
ware. Whether Gold Disk can
pack in enough features to
make it stand out from the
crowd remains to be seen,

Suddenly a new area of com-
petition has opened up at the
affordable end of the spec-
trum. I received Picture Wiz-
ard and Arts & Letters Appren-
tice the other day from Com-
puter Support, both scaled-
down versions of Arts & Let-
ters Graphic Editor, loaded
with clip art and designed to
make it easy to construct art
projects. The name and the
package of Picture Wizard sug-
gest that it's aimed at young
people. Meanwhile, Micro-
grafx has introduced a new
graphics package called Micro-
grafx Windows Draw. I hope to
compare these new packages
in an upcoming column. □

Harvard Draw

and Professional Draw

could teach

the established

illustration

leaders a few lessons

in speed

and convenience.

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE 81

MULTIMEDIA PC

David English

With the

Sound Blaster

Pro, you

can turn your

PC into

a multimedia

workstation.

SOUND BLASTER
TURNS PRO

When the Multimedia PC
(MFC) specifications were an-
nounced back in November
1990, Microsoft recommended
that developers use the Sound
Blaster, the only existing
sound card that came close to
matching the MFC specs.

In fact, it seemed at the
time that Microsoft had simply
taken the Sound Blaster
specs and added an audio mix-
er so that software could ad-
just the vahous audio levels —
FM music, microphone input,
line-in, CD-audio, and digital
sampled sound.

A year later, Creative Labs
and its distributor, Brown-
Wagh Publishing, started ship-
ping an upgraded version of
the Sound Blaster; Sound Blas-
ter Pro (Brown-Wagh Publish-
ing, 160 Knowles Drive, Los Ga-
tes, California 95030; 408-378-
3838; $299.95). It adds the au-
dio mixer necessary to meet
the MFC standard fully, as
wet! as a second Sound Blas-
ter on the same card and a
CD-ROM interface.

The Sound Blaster Pro has

two FM chips that provide as
many as 22 simultaneous syn-
thesizer-type voices (the
Sound Blaster has only one
FM chip for 11 simultaneous
voices), It also has two ADCs
(Analog-to-Digital Converters)
and two DACs (Digital-to-An-
alog Converters) that let you re-
cord and play back realistic-
sounding voice and sound
effects in stereo. (The Sound
Blaster has only one ADC and
one DAC for mono recording
and playback.)

The CD-ROM interface isn't
a SCSI interface, so you're lim-
ited in the number of CD-ROM
drives you can use with the
Fro. It currently works with the
Creative Labs SCD-521, Mat-
sushita CR-521. and Panason-
ic LK-MC-521 series drives.
All three are available as either
internal or external drives. I
tried the Creative Labs SCD-
521 B internal drive with the
Pro. and it appears to be both
fast and reliable.

Like the original Sound Blas-
ter, the Pro includes a volume
control, MIDI interface/joystick
port, microphone input, line-
in. and line-out on the back of
the card. Although the MIDI kit
is optional with the Sound Blas-
ter, it's included in the Sound
Blaster Pro package.

The Pro also comes with a
full array of software. Voice Ed-
itor II supports stereo record-
ing and file compression, as
well as audio input from a mi-
crophone, CD audio, or a file.
The graphics-based wave-
form display lets you cut and
paste, zoom, and loop your
sound segments. You can
also add echo and reverb
digitally.

The CD Player program
turns your CD-ROM drive into
a software-controlled audio-CD
player. The program's control
screen uses the familiar cas-
sette recorder layout, making it
easy to play, pause, stop, re-
wind, fast forward, change
track, and change volume.

SBTalker takes any ASCII
text file and converts it to spo-
ken words. (Like most algo-
rithmic text-to-speech convert-
ers, though, it sometimes mis-
pronounces the words.)

The FM Intelligent Organ pro-
gram turns your computer into
a stereo organ. It features a
learning mode and offers auto-
matic accompaniments and
rhythms. It can also work with
a MIDI keyboard through the
Pro's MIDI interface.

With MMplay, you can syn-
chronize Sound Blaster audio
files with Autodesk Animator an-
imation files to create simple
multimedia presentations on
your PC.

And two Windows pro-
grams, Jukebox and SBMixer,
let you play MIDI files and ad-
just the various levels of the
Pro's audio sources from with-
in Windows.

If you're interested in turn-
ing your PC into an MPC, you
can also buy the Sound Blas-
ter Pro as part of an official
MPC upgrade kit. The kit con-
sists of the Pro sound card, a
compatible internal CD-ROM
drive, and five CD-ROM titles,
including Microsoft Bookshelf
and Windows With Multime-
dia--all for just $849.95.

So how does the Sound Blas-
ter Pro sound? The sound qual-
ity of any 8-bit sound card, in-
cluding the Sound Blaster Pro,
is roughly equivalent to that of
an FM radio — orders of mag-
nitude better than the PC's usu-
al beeps and boops.

if you want true CD-audio
quality sound from your PC,
you'll have to spring for one of
the upcoming 16-bit stereo
sound cards, such as the
$995 MultiSound card from Tur-
tle Beach Systems.

For most of us. an 8-bit
card is all we really need.
Hook your Sound Blaster Pro
to a decent pair of speakers or
headphones, and you'll be
ready to experience the many
sounds of multimedia, 3

82 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

ThuNDER Board. PC games like

YOU'VE NEVER HEARD THEM REFORE.

Lend us your car. And we'll stuff it with a calibre of
sound that's ears ahead of the competition.

Introducing Thunder Board" from Media Vision. No
other sound card out there t(xlay can soar to such incredible
heights. Or plunge to such awesome lows. And
Thunder Board's dynamic filtering means dyna-
mite sound. Higher fidelity. Bigger ka-booms.
And more bang for the buck.

Our guarantee is that we put the quality where
your ears are. And the money where our mouth is.
In fact, we'll refund your money if you don't agree
Thunder Board is the best sound board for your
PC games.

In addition, with Thunder Board you get three
free PC action game samplers: Nova 9~ Lemmings'"
and Lcxi-Crossr Plus, free Thunder Master"' software
that lets you record and edit sound files with a Wave
Form Editor.

And Thunder Board is fully compatible with all the

newest PC games. Plus 100% compatible with AdLib™
and Sound Blaster" applications— to support the largest
library of games possible. What's more, Thunder Board
has breakthrough features to let you break all the sound
barriers. Like twice the Digitiz.ed .^udio Playback
and Recording Capability at an explosive 22 kHz —
compared to the competition s puny 11 kHz.

Also, you get a squadron of powerful extras.
Like a Joystick Port. Headphone Jack. An 11
Voice FM Music Synthesizer that lets you score
music as well as score points. And a Power Ampli-
fier with built-in Volume Control, so you can
have yourself a real blast— without blasting
the neighbors.

So take off— for a dealer near you. And go from
static to ecstatic.
Because, with
Thunder Board,
hearing is believing.

m^vni

Thunder Board." The Sound of Adventure.

For the name of a Thunder Board dealer or simply some good sound advice, call MediaVision. 1-8OO-84S-S870.

■Media Vision, 47221 Fremont Boulevard, Frcmoni, C.\ WS3«, 5IO-7TO-86(», FAX: 510-77n-';592
MediaVision, Thunder Board and Thunder Master arc trademarks of.Vledia Vi-iion, Inc. ^ 11 other trademarks and rcpislered trademarks are owned by iheir respective companies.

Circle Reader Service Number 214

DISCOVERY CHOICE

This fun-filled game will

get you ready to teacf} tiie local

word bully a ttiing or two.

David Sears

SUPER SOLVERS
SPELLBOUND!

For those of us born without a
knack for spelling, weekly gram-
mar-school spelling bees al-
ways inspired a certain degree
of terror Misspelling a word in
the first round happened more
often than anyone would like to
admit. Or worse, poor spellers
would somehow survive the in-
itial barrage of common words
only to face a word like sobri-
quet. Meanwhile, the class
word bully, who could spell
peripatetic while performing
handsprings, ciaimed the gold
star by correctly spelling nut-
meg. Where was justice''

fvlust our children endure the
horror and embarrassment we
fell victim to? Not now: Super
Solvers Spellbound! makes it
fun to learn how to spell.

The Learning Company
brings in the familiar, whimsical
characters of Super Solvers to
put even the most reluctant
young students on the path to
better spelling.

The story begins with a chal-
lenge: fvlorty fylaxwell wants to
prove that he's not only the f\/las-
ter of Mischief but the world's
best speller as well. No self-
respecting Super Solver will
stand idly by and allow this to
happen, despite the fact that
not every Super Solver is a ter-
rific speller

Thanks to the Spellbinder {a
notebook-sized computer) , beat-
ing Morty at this game will take
only a few fun-filled hours of play-
ing with words. To win, you
must triumph not only at local
spelling competitions but at
statewide bees as weli. The fi-
nal test takes place in Wash-
ington, D.C. — an auspicious lo-
cation for Morty's downfall.

Even players at the young
end of Spellboundl's 7- to 12-

year-old target audience will
have little trouble getting start-
ed. A short command at the
DOS prompt invokes the pro-
gram. With a mouse driver in
place, you can initiate most ac-
tions within the game via sim-
ple pointing and clicking, Par-
ents might wish to encourage
heavier reliance on the key-
board, however where the ar-
row and Enter keys, along
with the space bar, serve just
as well as the mouse,

Spellbound! increases typ-
ing efficiency, and while the
emphasis remains on spelling,
this adventure can't help but
familiarize keyboard neo-
phytes with the rudiments of
text entry.

In the Spellbinder is a trio of
spelling exercises disguised
as puzzles. Word Search re-
sembles the popular diversion
of the same name often found
in newspapers. You must find
a number of words hidden in
a grid filled with random let-
ters. The difference between
other word finds and Word
Search is, of course, the ulte-
rior motive. Super Solvers
search for words that later will
appear in the spelling bee.

And in preparation for this up-
coming test, you must not on-
ly find the word but also select
its constituent letters in the
proper order. The Spellbinder
doesn't permit you to select let-
ters indiscriminately; elves
must be culled from the grid se-
quentially, beginning with e.
Starting with s or n even if all
the other required letters are
eventually selected, doesn't
merit a correct answer.

Word Search can put togeth-
er challenging puzzles. With
the user-selected word lists as
its database, it will scatter
words upside down, diagonal-
ly, backward, and in a delight-
ful serpentine manner. Kids
will love to follow the word mi-
croprocessor, to name one, as
it snakes down and across the
grid. Sound a bit tricky for
your seven-year-old? Don' t wor-
ry; the advanced puzzles ap-
pear only late in the game,
just before the final spelling
bee. By then your Super
Solver will gamely tackle any
puzzle.

The next activity. Flash
Card, brings you face to face
with fvlorty. Each flash card
boldly displays fvlorty's mug —

COMPUTE JUNE 1992

further incentive for a Super
Solver to spell eacfi word cor-
rectly. Press the space bar or
click on Flash to display a
word briefly: then attempt to
spell it. The Spellbinder
doesn't give up on kids vi^ho
can't spell the word the first
time; it gives them three chanc-
es before moving on to the
next word.

Already the most demand-
ing of the three preparatory ac-
tivifies offered by the Spellbind-
er, Flash Card increases in
difficulty as you approach
your goal of competing in the
Washington, D.C., spelling
bee. Not only do you have to
spell flashed words correctly,
but you also have to unscram-
ble these same words in order
to earn further point bonuses.

If you don't recall the
flashed words from the begin-
ning of the activity, unscram-
bling them can prove frustrat-
ing. The Spellbinder helps out
here by allowing several at-
tempts at unscrambling each
word; the Flash Card screen
displays any letters that are
placed correctly, leaving
gaps where incorrect letters
are chosen. All in all, it's not a
bad compromise, and kids
will probably feel the most
pride for successfully complet-
ing this activity.

Chss Cross brings to mind
crossword puzzles, but in-
stead of presenting clues, this
activity supplies all the words
needed. The task is to fit words
of varying lengths into a frame-
work of boxes, one letter per
box. Through the process of
elimination, you can quickly
bring this activity to an end.

As with the other puzzles, lat-
er levels can bring greater com-
plexity in Criss Cross. Howev-
er, when words of the same
length appear on the list, trial
and error will yield the unique

solution in just a few minutes.

After participating in all
three activities and earning suf-
ficient points to qualify for the
next spelling bee. Super
Solvers head for the real com-
petition. There, Spellbound!
shines brightest. Besides the
rich 256-color VGA graphics
that give you plenty to look at,
clear digitized speech on the
PC makes the program truly re-
markable. The warm, feminine
voice of the officiator wel-
comes the contestants, utters
words of praise, and most strik-
ingly, regularly speaks aloud
many of the words that Super
Solvers have studied.

While many PC owners, all
too familiar with the raspy stat-
ic that often passes for digit-
ized speech in otherwise re-
spectable games, would just
as soon ignore optional vo-
cals, this aspect of Spell-
bound! deserves attention,
Any fear of missing a word sim-
ply because it's unintelligible
to the human ear fades quick-
ly; this digitized vocabulary
ranks among the best.

PC speaker quality may
vary, but a sound card prom-
ises consistent and superb re-
sults for digitized speech play-
back. If you don't have a
sound card, you might want to
consider The Learning Compa-
ny's Family Sound Value
Pack, which consists of an Ad
Lib card and a copy of Spell-
bound! and sells for only
$119.95. Spoken words are
interspersed among the major-
ity of flashed words, often to
good effect.

What if, despite all your prep-
aration for the spelling bee,
you don't take first place'^
Then head back to the activi-
ties of the Spellbinder, of
course, for more practice. Spell-
bound! never penalizes players
for trying, and this no-lose at-

mosphere will do timid kids far
more good than the public hu-
miliation of a real spelling bee.

Preset lists cover general
topics as welf as troublesome
word types such as homo-
nyms and palindromes. In ad-
dition, you may fill up to 100
special lists with words of
your own choosing, thereby
customizing the program to fo-
cus on problem words or this
week's spelling list.

So with a minimum of effort
and a good deal of fun. Spell-
bound! can turn every Super
Solver into a spelling heavy-
weight. And who wouldn't like
to teach the local word bully a
lesson or two? Spellboundl's
remarkable union of updated
learning activities with outstand-
ing sound makes this software
a great equalizer where
words are concerned. O

Circle Reader Service Number 301

IBM PC and
compatibles; 512K
RAM ITandy 1000
series reauires
640K RAM); CGA,
EGA, VGA, or Tandy
16-Golor; suoporls
Ad Lib, Roland, and
Sound Blaster—
$49.95

THE LEARNING
COMPANY
6493 Kaiser Dr.
Fremont, CA 94555
(800) 852-2255

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE 85

PATHWAYS

Steven Anzovin

Let your true

colors come shining

through. New PC

graptiics programs

make the most

ol an almost inlinite

palette.

STATE OF THE ART

The rapprochement between
IBM and Apple made big
news a while back, and many
observers believed that Apple
got the best of that deal. But
PC users, and especially PC
artists, may be the biggest win-
ners in this new world order.
One of the things that Macs
have had for years now, and
even Amigas are getting, is
what's known as true color (al-
so referred to by the number
of bits it takes to describe the
color of a pixel on the screen —
for instance, 24-bit color).
That's the ability to work with
16.7 million colors on the
screen at the same time to cre-
ate lifelike graphics and pho-
torealistic images. True color
makes standard 256-color
VGA look like a cheap car-
toon. Can you get true color
out of a stock 386? Not with-

out spending $1,000-52,000
on an adapter. How many PC
programs can take advantage
of true color? A handful, most
in poky Windows versions.

But the least expensive col-
or Macintosh, the Mac LC, is
capable of putting 32,000 col-
ors onscreen without any ad-
ditional hardware (this is
called high color by marketing
types). A few high-color
boards are appearing for the
PC. And there are about 300
Mac programs that can han-
dle true color with ease. Take
painting programs, for exam-
ple. King of the hill is Adobe
PhotoShop (Adobe Systems,
1585 Charleston Road, P.O.
Box 7900, Mountain View, Cal-
ifornia 94039; 415-961-4400;
$899.95), eventually to be avail-
able for suitably equipped
PCs. PhotoShop, the program
that wins the most popularity
contests among Mac artists,
can do prodigious feats of true-
color photo retouching.

PhotoShop is not an inexpen-
sive program. But if you think
all Mac software is just as ex-
orbitantly priced — and it often
is — check out Expert Color
Paint (available from TigerSoft-
ware, 800 SW 37th Avenue,
Coral Gables, Florida 33134;
800-666-2562. $35). This true-
color paint program has may-
be 60 percent of Adobe Pho-
toShop's functionality for one-
sixteenth the street price. Com-
bine Expert Color Paint with a
Mac LC, and you have a graph-
ics workstation capable of
high color that costs less than
any equivalent 386 solution.

Lots of artists trained in
paints, watercolors, and other
traditional art media— it's prob-
ably accurate now to say old-
fashioned art media — won't
use computers for graphics
work because paint program
tools are too different from the
brush and canvas they're
used to. And who can blame
them? Graphics programs are
universally unable to take ad-

vantage of the fluid arm-hand-
eye skills of a trained painter
or draftsperson. Now, a new
Mac program called Painter
from Fractal Designs (510 Light-
house, Suite 5, Pacific Grove,
California 93950; 408-655-
8800; $299) offers a pretty
good simulation of traditional
tools. You can choose a "pa-
per" or "canvas" background
for your paintings and then se-
lect from a variety of "brush-
es," "pastels," "crayons," and
so on. As you paint, the brush
actually gives the effect of be-
ing a real brush painting on re-
al paper of a particular rough-
ness and color. When you use
a pressure-sensitive graphics
tablet. Painter's brushes and
chalks can even respond to del-
icate changes in pressure. A
version of Painter has just
been released for Windows.

The Mac even makes room
for oddball efforts. A case in
point is TextureSynth (from Pan-
technicon, PO. Bex 738, San-
ta Cruz. California 95061; 408-
427-1687; $149), the most ad-
dictive graphics program I've
ever seen for any machine.
You guessed it — TextureSynth
is a synthesizer for rolling your
own custom textures for desk-
top publishing backgrounds,
3-D texture maps, and startup-
screen wallpaper. It works
much like a sound synthesiz-
er— just change the settings
on the control panel to make
new visual textures, which ap-
pear in an image window. In
true color, TextureSynth can
generate thousands of differ-
ent textures. Part of the pleas-
ure of this program is getting
completely lost in jungles of bi-
zarre texture effects — waves
of blue fur, maniacally busy
vermilion stucco, or the pat-
tern of sunlight glinting off
lime Jell-0. I found using Tex-
tureSynth to be like a flash-
back to the Age of Aquarius.
Maybe the IBM-Apple alliance
will result in a new Summer of
Love for PC artists. □

86 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

Guy Spy is a break-through tn adventure jamlns
featuring full-screen animated characters that are
completely under your control I With over 1,500 frames of
animation, five megabytes of graphic data and original music
and sound effects, Guy Spy sets a new standard in adventure
gaming excellence.

As Guy Spy you are the government's most trusted and daring counter-
espionage agent. Intelligence reports confirm the evil Baron Von Max has
located the legendary Crystals of Armageddon. With the power of the crystals in the
hands of this madman. Von Max will have everything he needs to fuel his ultimate
weapon of mass-destruction... the doomsday machine,

you must chase Von Max and his henchmen around the globe in a desperate bid to
save the worid from his evil plans. If you fail, there Is no telling what Wnd of
destruction Von Max vfiil unleash on the worid. Your orders are simple: stop Von Max
at any cost.,, before it's too latel

ReadySoft

ReadySoH Incorporated
30 Wsrthelm Court, Suite 1
Richmond Hill, OnMrto, Canada L4B 1 B9
TbI: (416) 73m75 Fax: (416) 764-8867

Circle Header Service Number 251

niifjf Spy- Is I nwniit 0) UMirSot llcapiiaH, an<vnOI>91 RalllySall II
MlWGmSfUSEnvEO.

ENTERTAINMENT CHOICE

Fly the skies like
never before with this
powerful simulator.

Peter Olafson

FALCON 3.0

Consider, if you will, the hills of
Falcon 3.0: gentle rises and
falls, soft curves, slopes.
From close up, you get the im-
pression of a mild fiaze at tfie
point where hill and sky col-
lide, and from a height, you
see the shadows that hills
cast. Never before has there
been a flight simulator that
gives the ground such texture.
It's of a piece — a fabric — and
you can almost touch it.

Even the least experienced
computer pilot knows that tra-
ditionally the hills and moun-
tains in flight simulators barely
have been hills at all. They've
been pyramids, more or less,
and despite the advances
made in recent years, they're
still pyramids. But Falcon 3.0
has changed that; in it there's
not a pyramid in sight.

And the ground is simply
one of a host of never-befores
in Falcon 3.0, Spectrum Holo-
Byte's next-generation, fea-
ture-packed flight simulator for
the IBfvl and compatibles. If
you aren't in the armed servic-
es (and perhaps even if you
are), this is as close as you
can come to flying the Falcon.
And it's close.

This high-end, vastly expand-
ed version of the simulator Spec-
trum released for the IBM and
the fvlacintosh in late 1987 plac-
es you in control of a little more
than your trusty F-1 6. You have
a whole squadron of 18 fight-
ers; a pool of pilots to fly them;
three vast, detailed environ-
ments to fly them in; and an ar-
ray of stunning enhancements.

Flying Falcon 3.0 on a fast
machine is an utterly beguiling
experience. Each outing be-
gins with a near-full-motion vid-
eo sequence (which can be
toggled off) before a free-fall
plummet into the cockpit (a de-

cided nod to F/A-lnterceptor
and its cousin Jetfighter se-
ries). Take off from a base in
Saudi Arabia, Central Ameri-
ca, or Israel. Then switch to an
external view, flick on the au-
topilot, and watch as your
wing men — at first pale blue
shadows in the background —
move into position. Watch
them radio their reports (or lis-
ten to their digitized voices if
your sound card has the right
stuff), and issue as many as
12 different commands back
to them. Once the fight is
joined, you'll almost be able to
smell their panic in a jam, their
satisfaction with a victory

It's a strange kind of role-
playing — with a very personal
edge — but I could get used to
it in a hurry. On a heavily
cached 33-MHz 486, Falcon
3.0 is smoother than smooth;
it has an almost liquid flow.
And when I hooked up the
high-fidelity flight model for ma-
chines supplied with a math

coprocessor, well, the game
just about took off. ■

Combat is a vivid, almost
shocking experience. We're al-
ways reminded that this is
war. Shot-down planes erupt
in flames and leave little bits of
themselves behind. Demol-
ished tanks give up columns
of smoke. Impacts on the sur-
face give off circular shock
waves that bring back memo-
ries of smart-bomb attacks in
Iraq during Operation Desert
Storm. And when you watch
your plane go in, there's a tan-
gible impression of impact.

On an escort mission over
Central America, my wing lead-
er was hit by a missile, t had
little v/arning and no second
chance. With the jet on fire
and out of control, I switched
to one of the external views
and sat back to watch it go in.
But 1 wasn't expecting what
happened. POW! All I could
see was fire and more fire. It
felt as if someone had given

88 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

me a little psychic shove. But
it didn't last: I wanted to watch
my remaining wing man try to
complete the mission — and
see how the air strike went.

One of the real delights in
Falcon 3.0 is the campaign
game, in which your success
or failure has a distinct impact
on how the battle proceeds. (If
the mission doesn't come off,
the tank unit you attack will sur-
vive to fight another day.)

Flying is the heart and soul
of Falcon 3.0, but there's a lot
more, all easily reached via
mouse from the War Room
screen. It's definitely one of
the most agreeable option
screens around, too. Catch
the looping video of combat
footage in the tiny black-and-
white screen in the corner.
The War Room screen will
transport you to elegant, sim-
ple screens for setting the
realism level and system op-
tions. These are the Red Flag
module', which is a combina-
tion trainer and mission-de-
sign utility; a replay mode with
a VCR-style interface; and a
communications screen for set-
ting up same-side or oppos-
ing play via direct link, mo-
dem, or Noveil-compatible lo-
cal area network.

Suppose you don't want to
bother with all this and just
want to fly? You can. Remem-
ber that tiny black-and-white vid-
eo screen? Click on it, and you
bounce straight into the cock-
pit and fly almost arcadelike
with an infinite supply of am-
munition and some nice fat tar-
gets close by. There's even a
high-score table to boost egos.

The manual is a book — 342
clear and comprehensive pag-
es. {Thank goodness for the in-
dex!) Anything I didn't under-
stand initially about Falcon
3.0, I understood after a turn
with this little doorstop.

Bear in mind that you'll
need a lot of oomph in the
specs department to accom-
modate all this good stuff. Fal-
con 3.0 is of a new breed of
high-end games, and it's
bound to leave some unhap-
py people coughing in its
smoke.

For starters, it requires
614,400 bytes of free memory
(and hence DOS 5,0 loaded in
high memory) and llfvlB on
your hard disk. (If you can't
cough up the former, the pro-
gram comes with five batch
files that will help you create
the appropriate boot disk.)
While it will run under that op-
erating system on 12-(\/lHz or
faster 286 machines with 1 MB
of RAfvl and VGA. a 20-rv1Hz
386 with 2MB is recommend-
ed. The program is designed
for optimal performance on a
25-fVlHz or faster 386.

Now, Falcon 3.0 isn't with-
out its problems. I've seen a
good many complaints about
bugs in the original December
release. (I've been using up-
grades almost since day one,
so I haven't experienced any
bugs firsthand.) But Spectrum
HoloByte fairly flew into action
to repair the problems. Within
days of the program's release,
patches began to appear on
electronic bulletin boards. The
most current version at this writ-
ing (late January) is 3.0A. It fix-
es keyboard-response prob-
lems that occurred on some
machines: improves joy stick cal-
ibration, the communications
mode, and enemyartificial intelli-
gence; fixes sound and Red
Flag problems; and addresses
a host of lesser snafus.

If I have complaints about
Falcon 3.0A, they're about the
little things that keep a great
program from being perfect.
Three theaters of conflict
seem a mite small for a flight

[LICJSOUIC BATrilfllLB i C f I ( S'

FALC

??a?iJd Spectrum HcicByte

required

INCIUDES I-PIAYER MODEM V C R $ t 0 N

Sim of this size — especially
since two of these scenarios
(Panama and Israel) are strict-
ly fictional. (The planned
Operation: Flying Tiger Cam-
paign disk adds Korea, Ja-
pan, and the Philippine thea-
ters.) There's a handy quick-
reference card, but a key-
board overlay with the 100-
plus commands would've
been even nicer. I'd also have
liked an /^feyousure?fequest-
er on the War Room screen to
prevent accidental drops to
DOS when brushing the Esc
key. (And yet, when I want to
quit. Falcon 3.0 drops to DOS
more slowly than any other pro-
gram I've ever seen.) But
these are all minor when you
consider the things Falcon 3.0
brings us.

Like those hills. Ah. yes —
those beautiful hills. There's
gold in those hills. □

circle Reader Service Number 302

IBM PC and
compatibles (80286 or
faster), 1MB RAM
(2MB recommended
with extended
memory), DOS 5.0 or
OR DOS 6.0, VGA, one
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circle Reader Service Number 146

GAMEPLAY

Orson Scott Card

Railroad
IVcoon teaches
you more tdan
railroading. Even
its copy-
protection scheme
Is educational.

THE GRIPES
OF WRATH

Every now and then, instead
of dealing witli one of ttie
Grand Ttiemes of the Art of
Connputer Game Design, I like
to devote a colunnn to gripes.
Copy protection. Copy pro-
tection is both annoying and
necessary. Game theft really
is a problem, especially when
a game is new. And yet the
schemes used to keep us from
pirating are sometimes truly aw-
ful. Fortunately, the key-disk
scheme seems to have van-

nCE 5TSPLfiV5" REPORTS — bUILU

ing code sheets is as easy as
copying a game program.

Code wheels make me cra-
zy. I can never find them,
since I always put them away
in a place where I'll be sure to
find them next time, but it's nev-
er the same place twice.

The best copy-protection
scheme is low price, of
course. That's why people
don't photocopy my novels —
the copy costs would be great-
er than the cost of a new book
off the shelf. But the next best
scheme is the one that Rail-
road Tycoon uses. The game
makes you identify a picture of
a locomotive

■ K 11-.'--. ^ T,^^"% '. Tn •. I'^^H

ished, though in some games
its vestiges linger.

I don't know whether Sierra
On-Line has stopped having
its games check for a change
in location on the hard disk. (If
there is a change, the game
will assume it has been illegal-
ly copied and won't run.) The
reason I don't know is that af-
ter I had a hard disk crash and
couldn't reinstall any of my Si-
erra games without sending
for new disks, I decided to for-
get it. I haven't installed a Si-
erra game since,

The schemes that depend
on reading complex codes in
black ink on purplish brown pa-
per are both ineffective and an-
noying. My Xerox copies of
the code sheets are actually
more readable than the origi-
nals, which proves that the
scheme is useless. Photocopy-

and pick its
name from a
list. At first this
requires you to
have the thick
manual with
you whenever
you play. But
the more you
play it, the
more familiar
you become
with ail the loco-
motives so
that, eventual-
ly, you can get past the copy-
protection test without the man-
ual. What a great idea! When
you become really familiar
with the game, you can earn
the right to get rid of the code
sheet because the code is
real information that you learn
by playing the game.

Startup screens. OK, when
you first piay a game, it's nice
to get that logo identification
and enhance the name recog-
nition of the publisher. But the
50th time you play the game,
waiting to get rid of the pub-
lisher's logo can be so madden-
ing that you begin to associate
that publisher's name with
deep feelings of loathing. And
no title screen is so pretty that
you want to see it again and
again (and again).

Of course, the worst offend-
er in this regard is Microsoft

with its infuriating Windows
startup logo display. Good
thing the company didn't do
that with MS-DOS in the first
place, or we'd all be using
Macs by now.

This applies also to repeti-
tive messages that display for
a fixed length of time. When
you know what the message is
going to be, why must it stay
on the screen for seconds? Go-
ing from levei to level in Rat-
tler Race, for instance, always
involves an annoying wait.

And please! Enough with re-
quiring us to respond with
meaningless clicks in Win-
dows games. Why is it that at
the beginning of every Tetris
for Windows game I must
click on OK to prove I've read
the title screen? Having to do
this is as bad as getting the
endless Prodigy messages
that require me to press Esc In
order to get on with whatever
I'm trying to do.

Option shortages. Is it lazi-
ness, or is there a Philosophy
of Limited Choices that I
haven't heard about? I can't un-
derstand why Tetris for Win-
dows, for instance, doesn't al-
low you to clear the vanity
board without reinstalling the
game, (The secret: When you
first install the game, copy the
file TETRIS, HST to a file
named something like TETO-
RIG.HST. Then when you
want to clear the vanity board,
copy TETORIG.HST back on
top of TETRIS.HST and you'll
have the original clean board
again.) Fortunately Super Tet-
ris solved this problem.

Why is it that some games
still don't give you the option
of loading a saved game from
inside the program, instead of
making you go back and start
the whole game over again?

Let me just point out that I
never get this annoyed with
games that I'm not playing
over and over again. I only
gripe about games I love. I
want to like them better! D

92 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

THIS OPPONENT IS PROGRAMMED
TO BE CHALLENGING.

If you think you're good at games, then let's have some
real fun. When you're online with GEnie* Multi-Player
Games, you're playing real people, In real time. Some of
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Warrior", and you've just taken out eight other guys, who'll
be back gunning for you. Blast a MechWarrior*^ in MultiPlayer
BattleTech™, and who knows? Could be that jerk from the
coast. Could be a mercenary who's looking for a few good
friends. □ With GEnie, the possibilities are endless, the

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put some new life into your joystick, and sign on. We'll see
just how good you are. D Sign up now: I. Set your modem
for half duplex (local echo) at 300, 1200 or 2400 baud.
2. Dial toll free — 1-800-638-8369. Upon connection, enter
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then press RETURN 4. Have a major credit card or your
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CIrela Reader Service Number 157

.7|

r//'*

'^"f-ff ■4i:-'fs

THE WHOLE WORLD IN A PC: SIMULATION SOFTWARE
PUSHES THE COMPUTER TO ITS
LIMITS— AND THEN REMOVES THE LIMITS.

SIMEVERYTHING

BY GREGG KEIZER

Decaying cities or humanity's
nnarcln through time. Click. Crowd-
ed ant tunnels or the emptiness
of the solar system. Click, click.
Military machines or billion-dollar space-
ships. Click, click, click.

Your computer's keyboard is the ulti-
mate remote control. It iets you
change the channels on your PC as
you mesmerize yourself with a seeming-
ly unlimited number of opportunities for
learning and fun. Personal computers
model an amazing number of situa-
tions and scenarios, mimicking the re-
al world while keeping it safely at arm's
length. The dirt, danger, violence, and
complexity that make the world so un-
tidy can be distilled into an onscreen
representation that — if all goes right —
seems like reality.

Simulations have been around a lot
longer than the computer on your desk-
top, of course. They didn't just spring
up like Athena from the brow of Zeus.
Over a hundred years ago, German
generals worked through kriegspiels.
or war games, to plan campaigns and
fine-tune strategies. In this century, uni-
versities modeled businesses with pen-
cil and paper, while fledgling pilots test-
ed their wings in crude flight trainers
that were pitched and rolled by men
standing outside the simuiated cockpit.

However, simulations and games
based on simulations have proved to
be one of the most explosive areas of
growth in PC software, seemingly inde-
pendent of recession or boom and
bust in the rest of the computer and soft-
ware market. The PC's high power and
low price have made mimicry on such
a scale possible.

In the real world, simulations do eve-
rything from predicting hurricanes to
helping physicists puzzle out the earli-
est moments of the universe. Simula-
tions are no less diverse In the world of
electronic entertainment.

Sid Meier's Civilization walks you
through the history of a world you've
never known. Starting with a band of no-
mads searching for a place to settle
down, you guide your people in a
race for knowledge, power, technolo-
gy, and territory. Civilization has all the
trappings of a simulation — decisions,
realistic environment, and interlocking
complexity — but it's as much a game
as anything. That doesn't matter, be-
cause in PC simulations the end almost
always justifies the means. And Civiliza-
tion ends right, leaving you with the feel-
ing that you've just witnessed the
development of a people in the proc-
ess of forming a dynamic (and some-
times extremely dangerous) culture.

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE 95

SimAnt is a simulation on a micro-
scopic scale. With a fairly firm foot in sci-
ence, SimAnt sends you back in time —
to about 1955 — when every boy had a
plastic ant farm.

Tunnels fill with ants and ant eggs.
Enemies battle it out for turf on a Hon-
ey, I Shrunk the Kids-sized stage, and
a house awaits the inevitable invasion
of the black ants you control. SimAnt is
a truer simulation, in that it lets you run
things you have no real business run-
ning. Real ants may do little more than
carom off each other, or worse, curl up
into tiny commas and die, but the elec-
tronic ants in SimAnt do your bidding
every time.

Falcon 3.0, a mechanical simulation,
is even more traditional in its approach.
Where Civilization compresses centu-
ries and SimAnt expands tiny insects.
Falcon 3.0 condenses intricate machin-
ery worth millions of dollars into some-
thing civilians can play with. Packed
with a mind-boggling array of simulat-
ed controls. Falcon 3.0 lets you fly an
F-16 jet fighter against enemy aircraft
in a missile-launching, radar-tracl<;ing,
electronic-warfare feeding frenzy. Eas-
ily one of the most comprehensive and
complicated simulations around. Fal-
con 3.0 also taxes the hardware like few
others: If you don't have at least a 20-
MHz 386 with a couple of megabytes of
RAM, don't bother showing up.

A home PC brute of two years ago—
a 12-MHz 286 computer with VGA, may-
be a 40MB hard disk — simply can't cut
it with today's top simulations. To run at
full speed, simulations demand a fast
PC, preferably a 486 or a 386 with a
math coprocessor chip. Simulations
test the PC like few other pacl<ages —
databases, spreadsheets, Windows,
and CAD software included.

Future simulations will undoubtedly
demand more than today's PC can pro-
vide. "It's hard to see how you could
simulate the earth in a much more re-
alistic model [than SimEarth] and stil
stay on the PC," says Tom Ligon. pres-
ident of ARC Software and the creator
of Dance of the Planets, a majestic so-
lar-system simulator. "In a way, its
gameness reflects the fact that the
technology is limited."

In two years, 486-equipped comput-
ers will be as common in the house as
386SX machines are now. The power
hungry will run chips like Intel's 80586,
or perhaps a superfast RISC chip.

Sim It All

"You can simulate anything," says
SimCity and SimEarth creator Will
Wright. "[It's] a matter of semantics.
But as we come to understand a sys-
tem, we're beginning to understand the
processes of a system."

96 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

MAN THE RAMPARTS!

THE BARBARIANS ARE HERE!

Is the personal computer the only place
to play with these imitations of reality?
Can the PC lay sole claim to simulations?
Hardly.

Though PCs have long cornered the
simulation market, threats from the barbar-
ians of electronic entertainment— video-
game machines — may soon break that
stranglehold. SimCity. one of the most
highly acclaimed simulations of the last
five years, is now available on the Super
Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES),
Nintendo's 16-bit game machine. Fal-
con, a video derivative of Falcon 3.0. is
also available on the SNES. Railroad Ty-
coon, the railroad empire-building simu-
lation, will be soon. And Koei, a maker of
Japanese. Chinese, and European polit-
ical and military simulations, has long pro-
duced versions for the cruder 8-bit Ninten-
do game deck.

The appeal of videogame systems
lies in their low cost and ease of use. For
a tenth of the price of a personal com-
puter and with virtually no Installation or
compatibility headaches, videogame ma-
chines let you play from the comfort of
the den couch or the living room carpet,

With such advanced (and faster) vide-
ogame systems as the Sega Genesis
and the SNES, and with larger-capacity
game cartridges — some that sport sever-
al megabits of chip memory— simula-
tions can now be played on the televi-
sion, not just the computer screen.

"It's actually a combination of market-
ing and technology" says Will Wright. "A
lot of the higher-end systems are being
sold to 20-year-olds," a population typical-
ly more interested in simulations, while
younger players have been the tradition-
al market for videogame machines.

PCs have the sim market pretty much
to themselves— today. In the not-so-dis-
tant future, though, they'll be forced to
share the simulation spotlight.

Near-future desktop PC simulations
will take on the task of simulating a larg-
er number of such systems — whether
natural or manmade — as well as ex-
plore their hidden processes in a deep-
er, richer way.

At the Winter Consumer Electronics
Show in Las Vegas, where designers
strutted their latest stuff, several sim-
ulations stood out as ones to watch in
1992. Dynamix, the Oregon arm of Si-
erra and creator of Red Baron, a
World War I air-combat simulator, has
taken its flight-modeling and graphics
techniques to the Second World War in
Aces of the Pacific. Flying any of over
two dozen Japanese and American air-
craft, you battle from carriers and land-
based airfields, re-creating historical
missions— including the dramatic assas-
sination raid that downed Admiral
Yamamoto — and try to survive through
brutal aerial campaigns.

Electronic Arts' as-yet-tentatively-titled
Michael Jordan's Flight Simulator takes
a page from simulations as it reproduc-
es the grace of professional basketball
with a three-dimensional perspective
that will leave you awe-struck. Some
may call it a sports game, but many will
see it as the simulator it really is.

Interplay's Buzz Aldrin's Race into
Space lets you guide the American or
Russian space program in a two-dec-
ade dash to the moon. Using more
than a hint of multimedia. Race into
Space asks you to make decisions on
rocket development, astronaut selec-
tion, and mission control. For those of
us who grew up watching rockets rise
into the Florida sky, this simulation prom-
ises a nostalgic look at the past and an
intriguing what-if construction kit.

Two on the Edge

"I'd really like to see software like
Dance of the Planets that goes out-
side, something that's not self-con-
tained, that doesn't go away when you
turn off the PC," says Tom Ligon.

What Ligon dreams of— a simulation
that continues to intrigue its users
long after the screen goes dark — is but
one example of how designers look at
their craft and where they'd like to
take desktop simulations.

'Two areas that appeal to me a lot
are simulating space missions and neu-
ral networks," Ligon muses. "You'd
learn a lot about neural networks and
train them, but it wouldn't be a game.
And I'd like to deal with the earth, even
down to earth science or life science.
It would take a lot of creativity to make
something that has merit yet can run
on the PC, but I think it's worth doing."

Will Wright wants to delve even deep-
er into evolutionary and biological sim-
ulations, past the premise of SimiEarth.
"I find myself repeatedly attracted to ev-
olution. Number one, because of the re-
sult and number two, because of the ap-
plication to other tasks. The techniques
could be harnessed to make your soft-
ware evolve, for example, and I find my-
self pushing toward education — get-
ting people excited about things, exper-
imenting and exploring on their own."

And what of the charms of multime-
dia and videogames being applied to
simulations? Wright thinks that video-
game simulations are an attractive pos-
sibility, now that "the hardware is final-
ly in place." Multimedia, says Ligon,
may be a different story. "I don't think
that's going to be competitive in the
next five years because of the initial
[development] expense."

Maybe neither is necessary to shift
-Simulations into high gear. V^/hen you
can simulate nearly everything now,
why wait for the future? D

64/128 VIEW

Gazette needs 64 and 128 programs every month.
If you are a programmer, here are
some tips that can help you make a sale.

Tom Netsel

Gazette wants to buy
your 64 and 128 pro-
grams. Sail just one pro-
gram, and you can eas-
ily recoup the cost of your
entire computer system.

We rely on our readers
for tlie programs we need
each montli to fill Gazette
and Gazette Disk. Here are
some tips on wfiat we want
and ways to make it easier
for you to make a sale.

Send your program and
documentation on a disk.
Save each twice, in case
one gets damaged. Send a
\ printout of your documenta-
tion and a short cover letter
explaining what your pro-
gram does and how to run
it. Enclose a daytime tele-
phone number. Don't send
a printout of your program
listing. Send postage if you
want your material returned.

To increase your chances
of making a sale, do all you
can to make it easy for us to
use and understand your pro-
gram. I've rejected pro-
grams because autfiors
have made my job tougher.

Here's what we like to
see in a submission. First of
all, use the correct address.
Don't delay things by writing
to a post office box number
we haven't used in years.
Send programs to Gazette
Submissions Reviewer, COM-
PUTE, 324 West Wendover
Avenue, Suite 200, Greens-
boro, North Carolina 27408.

Deadlines, interruptions,
and weak coffee can put
me in a bad mood at submis-
sion meetings. Imagine that
I've a stack of programs to
get through, and I've just
opened yours. You've got
60 seconds to impress me.

You'll be off to a good
start with that note that ex-
plains what your program

does and how to run it. If
there are numerous files,
backups, and demos on
your disk, I can gel very an-
noyed deciphering cryptic
filenames, trying to decide
which file to load first.

If we've had your pack-
age open for more than a
minute and we still don't
know what it's supposed to
do, we'll do one of two
things. We'll either reject the
program outright or toss it
back in the pile until next
month. In the latter case, we
don't totally reject it, but
we're not jumping to buy it ei-
ther. This bumping process
can go on for months.

With your letter, send a
printout of your documenta-
tion. Here's where you can re-
ally boost your chances for
a sale. Write in the style we
use in the magazine! Ex-
plain what your program
does, why it might be useful
or entertaining, and whether
it's in BASIC or machine lan-
guage. Then explain how to
use the program. Many au-
thors fail to do this.

It's very important that
you send documentation on
disk as well as paper. Save
it as a PETSCII, ASCII, or
SpeedScript-compatible
file. DO NOT USE GEOS! 1
load your documentation
into my 128, edit it, convert
it to ASCII, and upload it to
an IBfVl for additional editing
and typesetting. Retyping
your documentation wastes
time. If I have a program
whose instructions need mi-
nor editing and one that re-
quires hours of work, guess ,.
which one I'll buy? /

Finally, tell us about youp-
self: your occupation, age,
hobbies, and so on. We like
to publish a little information
about our authors. iG

GAZETTE

64/128 VIEW

If you send a game or utility to Gazette, follow
these tips to boost your chances for a sale.
By Tom fvletsel.

G-1

FEEDBACK

Questions and comments from our readers.

G-2

RELATIVELY SIMPLE

Many programmers shy away from using
relative files, but let's take another look
at these black sheep of the file family.
By Jayson Johnson.

G-6

REVIEWS

Tie Break, Calc II, and Bad Blood.

G-1 2

BEGINNER BASIC

Turn keyboard characters into movable sprites
By Larry Cotton.

G-1 8

MACHINE LANGUAGE

Use a rotating buffer to determine a program's
starting address and more.
By Jim Butterfield.

G-20

WORLD VIEW

Czechoslovakia loves its Commies, but
politics has nothing to do with it.
By Emil Heyrovsky.

G-21

GEOS G-22

GEOS graphics require a good management system.
By Steve Vander Ark.

PROGRAMMER'S PAGE G-24

Here's a handy list of POKEs, WAlTs, and SYS calls.
By Randy Thompson.

PROGRAMS

File Logger
Demo Maker
F/X Plot 128
Sprint III
Pad Design

G-25
G-26
G-30
G-33
G-38

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE G-1

FEEDBACK

Questions

and answers about

amortization

tables, geneaiogy

programs

for the 64/128,

and more

Address Correction

In "Commodore Clips" (Febru-
ary/March 1992) we listed the
wrong post office box number
for Clip Art Cupboard. The
correct address is P.O.
Box 317774, Cincinnati, Ohio
45231. We regret the error.

Amortization Table

I have been trying in vain to
get hold of a program that
will list amortization tables
with an option of payments
every two weeks. Can anyone
help me?

MARGIT DES LAURIERS
SANDSPIT BC
CANADA

In the May issue, Larry Cotton
presented an amortization pro-
gram in his "Beginner BASIC"
column that displays pay-
ments on a monthly or yearly
basis. For payments other
than monthly, however, you
might try the following pro-
gram. It asks for the amount
borrowed and the number of
payments per year. If you
wish to make payments every
two weeks, enter 26 at the sec-
ond prompt. It will then re-
quest the annual interest rate
and the duration of the loan in
years.

The program will calculate
the payment you must make
for each period and then
print a table showing the
breakdown of interest and prin-
cipal on each payment and
the remaining balance. At the
end of a year, it will print a to-
tal of the principal and Inter-
est paid. The program will
pause and wait for you to
press any key before printing
the next year's schedule of
payments.

RM 50 KS="PRESS ANy KEY
(SPACE}TO CONTINUE

GR 100 PR1NT"{CLR}

SB 110 DEF FNA(X)=INT (X*

ia0+.5)/100
BJ 120 INPUT "AMOUNT BORR

OWED";E
MB 130 INPUT"NUKBER OF P

ryments per year"
;n

AH 140 INPUT"ANNUAL IMTE

REST RATE";I:I=I/

100
AB 150 INPUT"DURATION IN

YEARS" ;D
CQ 160 R={I*E/N)/(1-1/(I

/N+1) I (N*D) )
AC 170 PRINT
JX 180 PRINT"YOUR PERIOD

IC PAYMENT WILL B

E S";FNA(R)
BE 190 PEIWTK?
QX 195 GET W$:IF W$=""TH

EN 195
HD 200 PRINT
AF 210 AT=a:A2=0:EN=E:RT

=0: IT=0:B=0:D1=N
KJ 220 IF INT{D)>=1THEN2

40
AJ 230 B=B+1
JD 240 F0RB=1T0 INT (D)
RK 250 PRINT CHRS{147)"

{D0WN}AM0RTIZATIO

N SCHEDULE";TAB (2

5) ;" YEAR #";B
PF 260 PRINT: PRINT" #"TA

B (5) "INTEREST"TAB

(17) "PRINCIPAL";
JK 270 PRINT TAB (31) "SAL

ANCE": PRINT

PM 280 FORBl-lTODl
JA 290 IV=FNA(EN)*I/N
CJ 300 RT=RT + 1:A=.R-IV:AT

=AT+A:EN=E~AT
FS 310 1FRT<>N*DTHEN330
DX 320 R=R+EN: A=A+EN:AT=

AT+EK:EN=0
HE 330 I2=I2+IV: IT=IT+IV

:A2=A2+A
AJ 340 A2=INT (A2*100+.5)

/100
MX 350 PRINTBl;TAB(4) ;FN

A(IV) ;TAB(16) ;FNA

(A);
XO 360 PRINT TAB(30);FNA

(EN)
KK 370 NEXT

FD 380 IF RT<>N*DTHEN400
SF 390 PRINT:PRINT"LAST

(SPACE)PAYMENT";F

NA(R| IPRINT
RP 400 PRINT: PRINT"FOR T

HE CURRENT YEAR Y

OU PAID"
DB 410 PRINT"$";FNA(IT) ;

"IN INTEREST "

HH 420 PRINT"AND S";FNA(

A2);"IN PRINCIPAL
It

FP 430 IF B=D OR B>D THE

N 540
CM 440 PRINT: PRINTK$
SF 450 GET WS:IF W$=""TH

EN 450
SP 460 PRINTCHR$ (147)
KG 470 IT=0:A2=0
PA 4 80 NEXT
BM 490 B=B-1
FP 500 IF D=BTHEN540
HR 510 Dl= ( (D-INT (D) ) *12

)/12*N
CM 520 B=B+1
RF 530 GOTO 250
GP 540 PRINTK$
ER 550 GET W5:IF WS-""TH

EN 550
EK 560 END

Genealogy Programs

I am looking for a family tree
program for my 64. Can you
help?

FREDERICK J, CARLETON
METAIRIE. LA

We published "Climbing Your
Family Tree" in the February
1991 issue of COMPUTE in
which the author described
several programs available
for the 64 that let users enter
family data. You might want
to contact the following com-
panies about their genealogy
programs. Here's a list of the
ones mentioned in the article.

Family— $34.95

PFA

8600 Old Spanish Tr., Ste. 79

Tucson. AZ 85710

(800)366-1372

FED C and FGS— $39.95
BYTEWARE
906 West 6th Ave.
Monmouth, IL 61462
(309) 734-7096

Arbor-Aide— $34.95
SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS
7378 Zurawski CL
Custer Wl 54423
(715) 592-3594

Family Roots— $225.00
QUINSEPT
P.O. Box 216
Lexington. MA 02173
(800) 637-7668

Keyboard Wanted

The time has come for me to
locate a new detached key-
board for my 128D. Perhaps
one of your readers may
have one for sale.

STEPHEN VAN EGMOND
360 FRONT RD.
LASALLE, ON
CANADA N9J 1Z5

G 2 COt^PUTE JUNE 1992

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FEEDBACK

An update

to a sports card

collection

program and tips

about writing

your own game

programs

Cursor SYS for 128

SYS 52591 will turn on a cur-
sor on the 128 in SO-column
mode. But what is the SYS
number to release the cursor?

ROBERT NELLIST
BROCKPORT NY

A SYS to address 52591
($CD6F) will turn the cursor
on in either 40- or 80-column
display mode. To disable the
cursor In either mode, enter
SYS 52639 ($CD9F).

If you do any programming
In 64 mode, you might be in-
terested In reading Randy
Thompson's "Programmer's
Page" this month. His column
contains a handy reference ta-
ble for 64 programmers that
lists dozens of Interesting and
unusual SYS calls, POKEs,
and WAIT commands.

Most of these items were
submitted by our readers. We
encourage — and pay for^pro-
gramming tips used on the
"Programmer's Page. "

Sports Card Update

I have just started collecting
trading cards, so Kevin
Davis's Sports Card Collector
(November 1991) is a bless-
ing. One thing that I felt was
missing was an indication of
when you had last updated
the prices. So I added the fol-
lowing to the program, and it
works great.

195 PRINT"{12 SPACESIUPDATE:

";DA$
390 INPUT#8,YT:INPUT#8,DA$:

INPUT#8,GC
615 INPUT"k8;^ENTER DATE:

MO. DA. YR.(whtr;DA$
1240 PRINI#8,YT:PRINT#8,DA$:
PRINT#8,GC

DOUGLAS JEFFEflY
TELKWA. BC
CANADA

Writing Games

I am writing a game on my 64
in BASIC, It's getting a little
complicated, and I'm begin-
ning to think that maybe I

should be writing it in ma-
chine language. How can I
have a sound track running,
sprites moving, and the com-
puter awaiting input all at the
same time?

BRYAN PEASE
LIVERPOOL. NY

Computer games may seem
to do many things at once,
but they're actually doing on-
ly one thing at a time. Comput-
ers follow instructions sequen-
tially. A system that does sev-
eral different things at once is
possible, but you would need
more than one computer or
microprocessor (each operat-
ing sequentially). To give
your program the appear-
ance of simultaneous action,
you need to plan. Separate
the actions Into subroutines.
IF-THEN can decide whether
or not you want to gosub to
the appropriate routine. It
might help to write, in plain
English, the game conditions
and their consequences.

For example, if the fire but-
ton is pressed, then launch
missile and set missile flag. If
the joystick moves, then
move ship sprite. If one sec-
ond has passed, then play an-
other note of the song. If the
missile flag Is set, then move
missile sprite again. Repeat
the above loop.

First, you check for the joy-
stick button. If it's pressed,
then gosub to the appropriate
routine. If It's not, forget
about launching the missile un-
til the next time through the
loop. Once you've launched
the missile, you want it to con-
tinue moving, which is the rea-
son for the missile flag. Wheth-
er or not the button was
down, you next peek the joy-
stick to see If the player
wants to move and update
the ship's position. Third, you
check the jiffy clock by read-
ing variable Tl or Tl$ to see
how much time has gone by.
If a second (or whatever time

period you've chosen) has
passed, play the next note of
the song.

Next, move the missile
sprite if the flag is set, and go
back. The program loops
around, checking the joystick
twice, checking the time,
checking a variable, and tak-
ing any necessary action.

The computer works quick-
ly, so individual actions seem
to happen simultaneously.

To convert the above out-
line Into a playable game,
you'd need a few more subrou-
tines. One would check the
collision register in case the
missile has hit something. An-
other would erase the sprite
and reset the flag as soon as
the missile has reached the
top of the screen. And, of
course, you'd have to trans-
late the outline into BASIC
code.

There's another technique
that's even closer to simultane-
ous action, but it requires
from an intermediate to an ad-
vanced knowledge of ma-
chine language. Sixty times a
second the computer stops
what it's doing and takes
some time to redraw the im-
age on the screen. The main
program is being constantly
interrupted. Using a wedge,
you can divert the Interrupt to
your own machine language
program, which could play mu-
sic, move sprites, or whatever
you choose. Such interrupt-
driven routines are sometimes
difficult to Implement, but
they can be very effective.

Do you have a question or
problem? Have you discov-
ered something that could
help other 64/128 users? Do
you have a comment about
something you've read in Ga-
zette? We want to hear from
you. Send your questions and
comments to Gazette Feed-
back, 324 West Wendover Av-
enue, Suite 200. Greensboro,
North Carolina 27408. D

G-4 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

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RELATI

PROGRAMMERS

OFTEN SHY AWAY FROM

RELATIVE FILES, BUT

MAYBE IT'S TIME TO TAKE

ANOTHER LOOK

AT THIS ALTERNATE METHOD

OF DATA STORAGE.

BY JAYSON JOHNSON

Relative files are the black sheep of ttie
data storage family. Programmers may try
them once, have a few problems, and
then give up on them. Then tfiey spread
the word lo their friends lo stay away
from relative files. The reputation
spreads. Unlike sequential files, relative
files get no respect, but maybe it's time for
a change.

Relative files do have good points and
advantages. For one thing, they offer far
more speed and efficiency than other meth-
ods of data storage. Since they can ac-
cess data without reading through every
file that precedes the desired information,
relative files offer almost random access,
if you have a large sequential file, you
must first load the entire file into the com-
puter's memory for processing. Then to re-
trieve data, you may have to read every
file before you find the information you
want. With sequential files, if you want a

piece of information that's stored in record
number 100, you'll liave to plow through re-
cords 1-99 first.

Suppose you have a CD collection of
500 titles and you want to catalogue it on
index cards. If you put the titles in alpha-
betical order and read them as a sequen-
tial file reads data, you'd have to flip
through the whole stack before you came
to anything by ZZ Top or Pia Zadora.

With relative files, you can go directly to
the data you want and read only that da-
ta. Just as with index cards, you can
home in oh the information you want with-
out starting from the beginning and flipping
sequentially through every file.

Since a relative file program uses only
enough memory to read desired data, very
little computer memory is actually used at
one time. A small program can access
163K of information that could be stored
on a single-sided disk.

Follow the Rules

Creating and using relative files is fairly
easy, providing you follow a few simple
rules. First, let's get some terminology
straight. With relative files, information is
stored in records, and each record con-
tains various fields. In the following exam-
ple, we'll create a mailing list. This whole
lis! is our file. Each person on our list will
be a record, and the various pieces of da-
ta about each person will be our fields.

For example, each record on our list
will contain a person's first and last
names, street address or post office box
number, city, state, ZIP or postal code,
and telephone number. These are the
fields we'll set up for each record. We'll be-
gin by calculating the total size of each re-
cord. This is done by adding the number
of characters in each field. With our mail-
ing list, we'll estimate how many charac-
ters each field should contain.

Field# Field name Number of

Characters

Last name

First name

Addressi

Address2

Address3

State

Zip Code

PInone #

Total

121

The record size for this file would be
121. Since the PRINT* statement
used with relative files adds a carriage
return to the end of each string, you
should add one extra character to
each field. So make it 129. If you try to
write 15 characters plus a CHRS(13)
(carriage return) to a record set up for
15, you'd get an ERROR 51, OVER-
FLOW IN RECORD.

DOS uses a single ASCII character
to represent the record length. This
means that the largest single record
could be 254 characters. This is very im-
portant to remember. If you want more
information stored in each record,
you'll have to split them in two. For ex-
ample, a 50Q-character record could
be split into two 250-character records.
You could use odd and even numbers
to identify each data pair.

The largest number of records you
can have is 65,535, but you'll never
use this many because of space limi-
tations on a floppy disk. A freshly for-
matted disk should show 644 blocks
free. Blocks, or sectors, are the areas
on a disk that can hold up to 256 char-
acters of information, DOS uses 2 of
these characters, so that leaves 254
bytes available for data.

Relative files use side sectors as an
index to keep track of which sectors
contain data. Each side sector has
room for 120 two-block pointers that let
DOS quickly locate the various blocks
assigned to the file.

As many as six side sectors can be
assigned to a file since each can deal
with 120 disk sectors (not records) for
a total of 720, more than the number of
blocks on a disk. Filling a 664-block
disk would use 6 blocks for side sec-
tors, leaving 658 blocks for data. Each
block can hold 254 characters, giving
you 167,132 characters in the largest
possible relative file. You can split this
up any way that is convenient for your
data. You could have 1671 records of
100 characters each or 658 records of
254 characters each.

Create a File

We have to create a file before records
can be stored or read. This is done by
opening a data channel with the de-

G-a COMPUTE JUhJE 1992

sired filename and record length. You
should note that DOS won't let you cre-
ate relative files with record lengths of
42, 58, or 63. These numbers repre-
sent ASCII values that have special
meaning to DOS. The format for creat-
ing a relative file is as follows.

OPEK lilei, device^, channeW, "lile-
nameX," + CHH${record length)

Let's start writing a program and call
our file tvlAILLIST We previously count-
ed the number of characters we'd
need in each record and decided on
129. Type in the following OPEN com-
mand, but don't run the program until
we complete it.

1000 REM OPEN MAILLIST FILE

1005 OPEN 1,8,2/'IVIAILLIST,L,"+CHRS(129)

Remember not to run it yet. It's now pos-
sible for us to put information into the
file. In DOS, there's no command to
check the number of records in a rel-
ative file; however, it's possible to
store this number manually within the
first record. Let's do this by positioning
the record pointer to the first record
and storing the number 1. To do this,
we must open the command channel.

1010 OPEN 15,8.15

The POSITION command for record 1,
position 1 is

1015 PR1NT#15/'P"+ CHeS(Z) + CHR$(1) +
CHR$(0)tCHRS(1)

The P is our pointer, and it tells the
drive to look for a certain record. In
CHRS(2) above, 2 is the channel we
opened when we created the file in
line 1005 (OPEN 1,8, 2,). Next, put the
number 1 into the record, because all
we have now is one record in our file.

1020PRINT#1,1

Print to the file number we assigned
when we opened the file, (Remember
OPEN 1,8,2.) Then, close the file and
the command channel, and the file is
ready to use.

1030CLOSE1:CLOSE15

Run the program now, and a file
called "MAILLIST" will be created and
placed in the disk's directory.

Writing and Reading

To read from or write to any record in
our file, we open two channels, the
DOS command channel and a file chan-
nel. Now we can position the record
pointer to any record and field in the

file with the DOS POSITION command.

PRINT#1S,'T" + CHR$(c/ranne/ number) +
CHR$(rec# (o) + CHR$irec# hi) +
CHR$(/]os;f<on wilhin record)

Notice that in the above line there are
two characters that represent the re-
cord number (rec# lo and rec# hi). The
formula for calculating these two num-
bers is as follows.

RECORD # = REC HI * 256 + REC LO

The record number can also be deter-
mined in other ways.

REC HI = INT(RECORD #/256)
REC LO = RECORD # - REC Hl*256

Translated, the command sequence
would be as follows. (You don't have to

TIPS ON USING
RELATIVE FILES

Relative files are good ways to store da-
la lor quick and easy access, but many
programmers avoid using them. Here
are a few ttiings to remember to avoid
problems.

1 . Always initialize the disk drive at the be-
ginning of your program to reset all
drive channels.

2. Always set the file pointer to the first
byte in a record. .The last parameter in
the P command should be CHR$(1).

3. Never write an empty string to the
disk. This will cause the disk drive to
lock in a continuous loop.

4. Never leave a file open after entering
or editing data. Be sure to open, read/
write, and close the file in the same
command sequence.

If you attempt to create a file that's too
large for the space remaining on your
disk, you'll get ERROR 52, FILE TOO
LARGE. If you plan to store a lot of data,
it's a good Idea to devote a whole disk
to a relative file.

Here's a short BASIC program to deter-
mine the maximum numl:er of records you
can have on a disk. To use tiie program,
you must know how many free blocks re-
main on your disk and the total number of
characters allotted for each record.

10 INPUT"NUIVIBEfl OF FREE BLOCKS ON

DISK";FB
20 INPUT-TOTAL CHARACTERS IN

RECORD";RL: IF RL<1 OR RL>254 THEN

20
3D IF RL=42 OR RL=58 OR RL=^63 THEN

PRINT"DO NOT USE";RL;

"CHARACTERS": GOTO 20
40 SS%=((FB/120)+.99): BA=FB-SS%
50 RP=(INT(BA*254/RL): IF RP465536 THEN

RP=65535
60 PRINT'THERE'S SPACE

FOR';RP;"RECORDS"

INTRODUCING

cdtuipijte/n

CDIUIPUTEi^NET ^

CDIUIPUTE

About COMPUTE/NET
Product Ordering
Feedback Board
Coming Events
Monthly Contest

Welcome to the grand opening of
COMPUTE/NET. A wealth of
information awaits you. Back issues
of COMPUTE, hard-to-find computer
books, super software, dazzling
pictures, cliallenging games, prizes,
a complete bulletin board, and
much more are here. You can even
talk to the editors and authors of the
magazine. Lots of surprises are
planned, so keep your eyes on us.

FIND US ON Q-LINK

FREE Q-LINK STARTER KIT
FREE TIME, ORDER TODAY!

Just call our toll-free number or
return the coupon, and we'll send
you the Q-Link Starter Kit and
software free, waive your first
month's membership fee, and credit
you with one hour of "Plus" time to
try Che service. Your $9.95 monthly
fee gives you unlimited access to
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Call 1-800-782-2278, Ext. 2414 today

enter NEW before typing this next sec-
tion. It and tine remainder of tlie code
are meant to be added to the previous
program lines.)

10 0PEN15,8,15

15 0PEN1,8,2,"IVIAILLIST": REM WE ARE

OPENING, NOT CREATING THE FILE
40 R = 1: P = 1: REM RECORD NUMBER 1

POSITION 1
45 GOSUB 500
90CL0SE1: CLDSE15: END
500 REM POSITION RECORD POINTER
510 RC = R + 1: REM AOD 1 TO RECORD

(REC1 IS ALREADY USED TO HOLD FILE

LENGTH)
520 RH% = RC/256: RL = RC-RH% * 256:

REM TWO-BYTE ADDRESS; RH% IS AN

INTEGER
530 PR1NT#15,"P" + CHR$(2) + CHRS(RL) +

CHR$(RH%) + CHRS{P)
540 RETURN
999 END

Don't run the progrann yet.

Record Contents

Each record is actually a string of infor-
mation in itself. To read each field sep-
arately, we must calculate where it be-
gins within the record. Here are the
record sizes we established earlier. We
can use these figures to determine

where to look for each field.

Last name

1-15

First name

16-30

Addressi

31-50

Address2

51-70

Address3

71-90

State

9M00

Zip Code

101-109

Phone #

110-121

Now let's make a list of pointers for
each field.

5000 DATA 1, LNAME, IB, FNAME, 31, AD1,
51, A02, 71, AD3, 91, STATE, 101, ZIP,
110, PHNO

As you can see, this translates into
Last name at position 1, First name at
position 16, Addressi at position 31,
and so on.

Writing Data

Let's enter some information into a sam-
ple record. As we do, we'll write over
line 45 in the earlier subroutine.

35 REM STORE RECORD

45FS(1)="J0HN":F$(2)="D0E"

50 FS(3)="15 HOLLYWOOD AVENUE"

55 F$(4)="iSPACE}"

60 F$(5)="HOLLYW00D"

65 F$(6)="CALIF."
70 F$(7)="90135"
75 F$(8)="555-964-6652"
BD RESTORE: REM RESET DATA POINTER
85 F0RLP=1T08: READP,X$: G0SUB5D0:
PRINT#1, FS{LP): NEXTLP

When you have this final block of
code entered, you may run the pro-
gram typed in so far. You may also
want to save it to disk.

Reading Data

Reading information is just the oppo-
site. You set the pointer and use IN-
PUT* to read the information instead of
PRINT#. which is used to write it.

20G0TO100

100 REM READ RECORD

110 R=1: REM RECORD 1

115 RESTORE: RESET BASIC DATA POINTER

120 F0RLP=1T08: READP,X$: G0SUB500:

INPUT#1,F$(LP): NEXTLP
12SCL0SE1: CL0SE15
130 PRINT'LAST NAME: ";FS(1)
135 PRINT'TIRST NAME: ";F$(2)
140 PRINT'ADDRESS: "
145 PRIHTF$(3)
150 PRINTF$(4)

155 PRINTF$(5);", ";F$(B),F$(7)
160 PRINT"PHONE#: ";FS(8)
175 END O

"You're not quite as smart as you thought you were, eti? I've unplugged you!

G-10 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

GAZETTE
D\SK L/BRARY

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Address .
City

. State .

Amount
enclosed

Method of
-paymenl

AH prices Include shipping & handling. Name.

SpeedScript D $11.95

Gazette Index D $ 7.95

Best Gazette Games D $ 9.95

Gazette's Power Tools D $ 9.95

The GEOS Collection D $1 1 .95

128 Classics D $11.95

Special 6-Disk Offer D $49.95

Subtotal

Tax*

Outside U.S. or Canada"

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■ Residents of North Caroiino and New YoA add appropriate soles tax. Conadion orders, odd 7% goods and services tan.

" For delivery outside the US. or Conodo, add SI for sortoce mdi or S3 for airmail. All orders must be in U.S. (unds drawn on a US. bank.

ZIP.

Mail to Gazette Dis)<s

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Signature (required)

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n Ctioclt or Money Order
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(for orders over S20>
Ste. 200

_ Exp. date

REVIEWS

TIE BREAK

Tennis anyone? You don't
have to be a top seed tennis
professional at Wimbledon
to enjoy playing DigiTek Soft-
ware's Tie Break, This compu-
terized tennis game is for ten-
nis lovers of all levels.

Tie Break offers three
modes of play: world tourna-
ment, tournament, and train-
ing. World tournament is for
those who want a real chal-
lenge. Here, you select up to
16 players (human or comput-
er), and you must defeat all
of them to win the champion-
ship. You then select the
world tournament that you
want to enter. These vary in
level of difficulty and include
Wimbledon, the French
Open, the Masters, the U.S.
Open, the Davis Cup, and
the Australian Open. For ex-
tra realism, each player is as-
signed a racket of a certain
tension and weight.

Perhaps you don't feel
ready for world tournament
play just yet. If you just want
to compete against a few of
your friends, select tourna-
ment play. Once again,
each player is assigned rack-
et weight and tension. You al-
so select the surface type
and color that you want to
play on. Court types vary in
difficulty since the ball may
move faster or bounce differ-
ently on certain surfaces. For
example, the ball will move
faster on an asphalt or a PVC
court than it will on clay

Let's say that you haven't
played for a while and are a
little rusty. If you feel like prac-
ticing either before entering
a world tournament or play-
ing against your best friend
who happens to be a tennis
pro, then select training.
Here, you can practice with
a variety of computer players
of varying skill levels.

If your friend wants to prac-
tice as well, you both can

G-12 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

play against each other or
play doubles with two com-
puter players. {To play
against a friend, one person
must use the joystick, and
the other must use the 64's
arrow keys and space bar to
control the onscreen play-
ers.) This training mode also
will let you experiment with dif-

Tie Break is easy to learn.
In no time, you'll have a rack-
et in your hand, be ready to
compete in a world tourna-
ment, or be ready to play
against the computer in the
training mode. The level of dif-
ficulty depends on such fac-
tors as the number of players
you must beat in a tourna-

This player on a clay court has jus! hit a high lob to his singles
opponent in Tie Break, DigiTek's new tennis game.

ferent rackets and surfaces.
Being able to practice with
other players is a nice fea-
ture of this game, since
some of the other computer-
ized tennis games lei you
practice only by hitting balls
tossed by a ball machine.

No matter what mode you
select, you don't have to wor-
ry about moving your player
to the appropriate court po-
sition to hit the ball. Tie
Break automatically posi-
tions the player for return
shots. You simply decide
how you're going to com-
plete your return shot. Some
of the options are volley, lob,
slice, topspin, and smash.
The computer will decide if
your shot will be forehand or
backhand. You control your
shot's speed, direction,
type, and length. It's also pos-
sible to pause during the ac-
tion or slow the game down.

ment, the tension and
weight of your racket, the op-
ponent you select, and the
court surface. This game's
challenging to play, but it
would be even more challeng-
ing if there were an option to
position your player yourself
for return shots as opposed
to having the computer do it
for you.

The manual provides you
with enough information to
get you started quickly. All
types of shots are explained
in enough detail so that you'll
soon learn how to perform
each one. There are even dia-
grams to show you in more
detail exactly how to hit cer-
tain shots. The manual also
includes useful information
on how to use trick shots to
defeat an opponent.

Tie Break's graphics and
sound effects are great on
the 64. You watch the

games as though you were
looking down from above.
You see the ball, players,
court, and net in a three-di-
mensional view. You can
hear the sound each time
someone hits the ball or the
ball bounces off the court.
Tie Break lets you know vis-
ually when the ball hits the
net or is out of bounds. You
can see just what type of
shots the players are taking,
and the scores appear on
the screen after each point is
scored.

Overall, Tie Break is fun
and challenging, and it'll
give you hours of entertain-
ment. So if tennis is your rack-
et, I think you'll love playing
this game, especially if the
weather is too nasty to go out-
side on the courts. Bring the
true-to-life action and excite-
ment of tennis to your 64 and
give this game your best
shot. See you at Wimbledon!

CHRIS SAUCIER

Commodore 64 and 12S— S29 95

DIGITEK SOFTWARE

1916 Twisting Ln.

Wesley Chapel. FL 33543

(813) 973-7733

Circle Reader Service Number 341

CALCII

Years ago, I typed in a
spreadsheet called Speed-
Gale that I saw in Gazette.
Since it has always loaded
quickly, has been easy to
use, and has provided cor-
rect answers with its calcula-
tions, I couldn't see any rea-
son for switching to another
spreadsheet. That was be-
fore I tried Calc II from
Pankhurst Programming.

I'll have to admit that, at
first glance, I wasn't im-
pressed. I mean— a spread-
sheet is a spreadsheet is a
spreadsheet. They're made
up of letters along the left
side of the screen that iden-
tify rows and numbers run-

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SuMotal

Sales Tax (Residents ot NC and NY please add apprapriate sales tax for your

area. Canadian orders, add 7% goods and services tax.)

Shipping and Handling {S2.00 U.S. and Canada, $3.00 surlace mail. $5.00

airmail per disk.)

Total EnclosBd

MasterCard and VISA accepted on orders with subtotal over S20.

Checli or Money Order MasterCard

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Signature

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. Exp. Date .

(Requjr&d)

Daytinne Telephone No.
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L .

Mail this coupon to COMPUTE'S 1991 Utilities, 324 West Wendover Ave., Ste. 200.
Greensboro, NC 2740B.

REVIEWS

ning across the top that iden-
tify columns. The intersec-
tion where a row and column
meet is called a cell, and
Calc II has plenty of those. In
fact, it has 240 rows and 240
columns. A 64 doesn't have
enough memory to use that
many cells, but it does have
room for about 2GK of data.
The actual number of free
bytes remaining is displayed
at the top of the Calc !l
screen.

I'm going to assume that
everyone knows what a
spreadsheet is and jump
right into Calc H's strong
points and improvements
over its earlier version. One
feature that's almost worth
the price alone is Calc H's abil-
ity to split the screen into
two, three, or four windows.
This lets you see one part of
the sheet while working in an-
other section.

Many times I've been en-
tering data in a budget with
dates running across the top
of the page and with income
and expense categories run-
ning down the left. Things
are fine as long as all the in-
formation is on one screen.
By the time you've entered
enough data to scroll across
and down the page, howev-
er, you can no longer see the
dates and the categories. Af-
ter a while, you have to
scroll back to the beginning
to make sure you're entering
data in the correct cells.

With Calc II you don't
have this problem. You can
open a couple of windows,
lock the categories and
dates in place, and then
move anywhere on the
sheet and still be sure you're
not entering November's elec-
tric bill in the cell reserved for
December's rent payment.
You can divide the screen in-
to any size windows you like.

Printing can also be a prob-
lem if your spreadsheet is
larger than your printer can

G-14 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

handle. Calc II automatically
splits at the end of a page,
printing the rightmost sec-
tions on later pages. Other
spreadsheets may wrap and
print on the next line, destroy-
ing the row and column or-
der. You can print just a por-
tion of the sheet if you don't
need all of it. You can also
use embedded printer
codes in Calc II to utilize
your printer's compressed
print modes.

Once you have data en-
tered, you can manipulate it
with Calc H's sorting routine.
You can sort in ascending or
descending order by row or
column. This is the only area
where I experienced any dif-
ficulty. I entered a group of
names running down the
page in a column. When I de-
fined this block of data and
asked the program to sort
the column in ascending or-
der, nothing happened. Af-
ter several unsuccessful at-
tempts, I asked it to sort the
row, and then it worked. The
same held true with data
across the page. 1 call that a
row, but the sort routine ap-
parently considers that a col-
umn. Numbers sort with no
problem, but text sorts ac-
cording to word length un-
less cells are left-justified.

Data in cells can be justi-
fied left, right, or center, de-
pending on your preference.
Columns can be adjusted
globally or individually to fit
data of any width, from 3 to
38 characters. Other options
include number of decimal
places, auto or manual cal-
culate, tape or disk, device
number for printing, and
screen and text colors. You
can make these changes
manually after a spread-
sheet loads, but Calc II pro-
vides a separate program
that lets you customize the
program to fit your preferenc-
es. Then, anytime you run
Calc II, it'll default to your cus-

tomized choices.

Another program that
comes with Calc 1 1 is a merg-
er program. Use it to com-
bine different spreadsheet
templates onto one larger
spreadsheet. The resulting
file can be a merger of any
number of previously saved
templates. Text and formulas
must use different cells, how-
ever, or the second spread-
sheet will overwrite those
cells already in memory.

Speaking of templates,
Calc II provides about 40 of
them that are ready to load
and run, Some of them help
you calculate break-even
points, business budgets, de-
preciation, loans, mortgag-
es, standard deviations, and
future worth of investments.
Others will help balance
your checkbook, keep a
grade book, write sales
slips, and figure factorials.
One will even take room
measurements and calcu-
late how much wallpaper,
paint, or carpeting you'll
need for the job.

Several of the templates
have borders and lines to set
off data. In the past, I had to
be content with a series of
equal signs or dashes to cre-
ate such effects. With Calc
II, however, it's possible to
use many of the Commodore
keyboard graphics to create
design elements that make
your spreadsheet easier to
read and more appealing to
the eye.

Calc II treats mathemati-
cal calculations In the same
fashion as Commodore BA-
SIC, so you shouldn't have
any problems entering your
own formulas. It even ac-
cepts the Boolean operators
And, Or, and Not.

Calc II also has a number
of powerful built-in functions
that can make your calculat-
ing chores easier. In addition
to the usual Sums, Square
Roots, Tangents, and Loga-

rithms— functions found in
most spreadsheets — Calc II
offers Rnd for random num-
bers, Peek to return a value
of a memory byte, and Exp
for exponents. Additional
functions include Average,
fyiinimum and Maximum val-
ues, and Number ol Items In
a block of data. Lookup and
Index are functions used to
find data in tables. Fix trun-
cates remainders in calcula-
tions, and Round rounds the
value up or down. An If func-
tion lets you make a choice
between two options. How to
use these and other func-
tions is carefully explained in
the manual.

A spreadsheet is a very
powerful yet flexible tool that
lets you perform a wide
range of mathematical calcu-
lations. It's a productivity
package you'll use again
and again. If you don't have
a spreadsheet, I recom-
mend that you get one.
Once you decide to get one,
I heartily recommend Calc II.

TOM NETSEL

Commodore 64 and 128— S29.00,
plus $4.95 shipping and iiandiing

PANKHURST PROGRAMMING

PO, Box 49135

Monlreal, PQ

Canada HI N 3T6

Circle Reader Service Number 342

BAD BLOOD

Mutants get no respect! In
most computer games, mu-
tant creatures are monsters
or enemies. Found roaming
in dungeons or forests,
these creatures are simply a
source of experience points
and useful objects left be-
hind after termination. Bad
Blood, from Origin, is an ad-
venture game that takes
place in a postapocalyptic
world in which the mutants
are the good guys and the hu-
mans are corrupt and vindic-
tive. There's a lot of bad

SOFTWARE CLOSEOUTS

For Commodore 64 & 128

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Typhoon ol Steel, War of th& Lance, Cu;s& ol
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Doomsday, Bait les of Napoleon, Tony La Russa
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overGermany. Heroes of Lance, Pro-TourGolf,
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MICROFROSElMKnOFUr S14.SaEKH

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in Vietnam, Stunt Track Racer, 3D Pool, F-1 5
Strike Eagle, Airtiorne Ranger, or Pirates!

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PSI 5 Trading Co., Law of the West, Comics,
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Aces. Fight Nighf, or Jet Boys.

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Toy Bizarre, Mirflsttadow, H.E.R.O., Crossbov/
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WTfVEnNniEmiMnnfs msoEACH

Gee Bee Air Rally, Aliens, Ghostbusters II,
ManiacMansion. Beyond Dark Castle.Titanic,
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Mastertype/Writer Bundle, Perfect Score SAT,
Shinot)i, Gauntlet 2, Bop'nRumble, ColorMe,
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Parthian Kings, Jupiter n/lission 1 999,T,A.C.,
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Statis-Pro Baseball. Gulf Strike, Darkhorn,
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REVIEWS

blood here. Your goal Is to bring peace
to the Plains and prevent war between
the mutant races and the humans who
want to control and enslave them.

You start Bad Blood in the mutant
town of Mardok. After watching an in-
troduction, you choose a character for
the game. The choices are Varigg, Ja-
kka, and Dekker. Varigg is a green
male, full mutant. Jakka is a female mu-
tant, almost human except for her eye
blasts. Dekker is a male human. All the
characters have qualities that make
them attractive alter egos. Their weak-
nesses make the game a different chal-
lenge with each character.

Bad Blood takes place on the Plains,
a land laid to waste long ago by a nu-
clear bomb. The inhabitants managed
to survive, but not without mutations.
The humans tried to ignore the mutants
and enslaved them. As time wore on,
the mutants rebelled and formed their
own communities. In addition to moun-
tains and open spaces, the Plains con-
sists of mutant towns Mardok, Okkarn,
Nivvik, and Kitrum; human cities Xantin-
ium and Yvrium; and a dangerous shell
of a city called Zero City.

Bad Blood's game screen features
an overhead view of your character's
surroundings in a mock television cab-
inet. Below this window on the left is a
list of five commands; ajar of brown flu-
id on the right marks the character's
iife level. The commands are Inventory,
Examine, Use, Talk, and Options
(Pause game. Save game, Load game,
and Music on/off). To play Bad Blood,
move the character around in the top
window with joystick or keyboard and
select commands with the joystick but-
ton or space bar. The first three com-
mands bring up an inventory window for
further choices.

It's necessary to carry on a lot of con-
versations with people you meet in Bad
Blood. They'll provide clues and other
necessary information. Selecting the
Use command brings up another menu
with options to chat, ask a character
about a specific topic from another list,
or say goodbye.

Finally, in combat, you use a weap-
on or bare hands to attack by pressing
the joystick button or space bar. That's
all there is to Bad Blood. You'li be play-
ing the game in no time.

Bad Blood possesses the right diffi-
culty for beginners, and seasoned ad-
venturers will enjoy the atmosphere of
the game and the strange characters.
The well-written manual details the his-
tory of the Plains and also explains the
slang of the region, such as fuff (warri-
or or soldier), hume {human), and mute

(mutant). It's a fresh perspective to see
the entire game on one scale, as is not
the case in a lot of other role-playing
games. You only see the interiors of
buildings when you enter the doors.
Bad Blood takes advantage of its
game world and contains a lot of interest-
ing mutants, not all of whom are friend-
ly. Just remember to watch out for the
reptilian Kejek creatures; they capture
other mutants as slaves for the humans
in exchange for big rewards.

The graphics in Bad Blood are top-
notch. The overhead view is particular-
ly impressive because of the detail it pro-
vides. Scrolling is smooth and fast. The
only time the game halts and accesses
the disk is when you enter a building or
move into a new area of the Plains. For-
tunately, this access time is short. Bad
Blood's graphics bring the mutants to
life and offer a rich environment for ex-
ploration. The catchy music is constant
throughout the game and adds a lot to
the enjoyment. Sound effects are not as
prevalent.

Bad Blood is a fine example of how
much more enjoyable a game can be
with a simple control system. Bad
Blood's interesting land and inhabitants
make this game an ideal choice for
adventure fans,

RUS5 CECCOLA

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BEGINNER BASIC

Larry Cotton

Here's an interesting

way to turn

keytioard characters

into sprites,

and move tiiem about

witti cursor Iteys.

ALPHABET SPRITES

Let's transfer data from the
64's built-in character set to an
interesting sprite format.

Lines 10-110 contain famil-
iar sprite code, except for con-
stant definitions in lines 50
and 60, which we'll look at in
a moment. Line 120 begins a
FOR-NEXT loop to copy three
groups of character data.

Lines 130 and 170 access

PRINTCHR$(147) :POK

E646,7{10 SPACES}

PRINTTAB(10) "PLEAS

E WAIT 3 SEC.

V=53248:REM 1ST SP

R CTRL REGISTER

POKEV+21,0:REM TUR

N SPB 1 OFF

XS= " ABCDEFGH IJKLMN

OPQRSTUVWXYZ":REM

{SPACE)SEE LINE 33

S = 66S6:E=8::REH SEE

LINE 140
POKE2040, 192:REM P
OINT TO DATA
REM POKEV+23,l:POK
EV+29,1:REH ENLARG
E

POKEV+39,7:REM YEL
LOW SPRITE
X=160:Y-130:POKEV
,X:P0KEV+1,Y:REM
{SPACE} LOCATE
FORB=12288TO12350
:POKEB,0:NEXT:B=1
2288 :REM CLEAR SP
RITE DATA AREA
FORG=1T03:GOSUB32
0

POKE56334,0:POKEl
,51: REM KBD OFF
FORI=0TO21STEP3:Z
= (T + S)*E:POKEB + I,
PEEK(Z+A) :REM COP
¥ CHARACTER DATA
A=A+1;NEXT;A=0:B=
B + 1

NEXT:B=B+21:G0T01
20

POKEl,55:POKE5633
4,1; REM KBD ON
PRINTCHRS(147)
POKE214, 9: PRINT: P
OKE211,17:PRINT"
{3 SPACES}SS" :RE«

3 SPACES BEFORE
{SPACE}SS
POKE214,10:PRINT:
POKE211,17:PRINT"
{3 SPACES] SOR": RE
M 3 SPACES BEFORE

SOR
POKE214,ll:PRINT:

100

110

120

130

140

150

160

170

180

190

MO 200

XB 210

POKE211,17:PRINT"

KEYS"

220

P0KEV+21,1;REM SP
RITE ON

230

KB=197:SH=653:NK=
64:MX=255

240

K=PEEK(KB)+PEEK(S
H) :IFK=NKTHEN240

250

IFK=7THENY=Y+1

260

IFK=8THENY=Y~1

270

IFK-2THENX=X+1

280

IFK=3THENX=X-1

290

X1=INT(X/HX) :X2=X
~X1*MX

30 0

POKEV,X2:POKEV+16
,X1:P0KEV+1,Y:REM
MOVE SPRITE

310

GOTO 240

320

READAS:IFAS="*"TH
EN170

330

FORT=lT026:IFAS=M
ID$(XS,T,1)THENRE
TURN

340

350

DATA P,R,E,C,U,R,

the character ROM located
from 53256 through 53463.
POKE 56334,0 turns off the key-
board, white POKE 1 ,51 switch-
es the character ROM in.
When the copying is com-
plete, the two memory regis-
ters must be restored to nor-
mal with POKE 1,55 and
POKE 56334,1. The order of
poking in line 170 must be re-
versed from that of line 130.

Between lines 130 and 170,
the ROM-to-sprite data copy-
ing occurs. We set up the
sprite's shape data in memory
registers 12288 through
12350; Bis 12288. Recall that
each sprite shape is defined
by 63 bytes (three columns of
21 bytes). The first letter
whose 8 bytes of data we'll
transfer will appear in the up-
per left corner of the sprite, con-
trolled by addresses 12288,
12291, 12294, and so on.

A FOR-NEXT loop from 0 to
21 in line 140 begins copying
the eight bytes of character da-
ta. STEP 3 ensures that the da-
ta bytes fall under each other
in the sprite so the character
will be readable. Z is the ROM
location of the character data.
Its value is calculated by add-
ing constant S and variable T
and then multiplying by con-

stant E. (S and E are defined
in line 60.) T comes from a sub-
routine in lines 320-350,
which is called from iine 120.
Let's look at that subroutine.

AS is a letter of the alpha-
bet. X$ (the alphabet, defined
in line 50) is scanned for a
match. T indicates A$'s place
in the alphabet. Thus, if A$ is
the letter C, T will equal 3. The
subroutine returns control to
line 130. T is then added to S
in line 140, which determines
Z's value — the place to begin
peeking for character data.

In line 140, the first time
through the loop, B is poked
with whatever's in Z. However,
line 150 increments A (which
starts as 0) by 1 , so the next
time through the loop, B+3 is
poked with whatever's in Z+1 .
Thus, as the sprite data reg-
isters are increased by three,
the character data registers
are increased by one.

After the loop is finished in
line 150, A is reset to 0, and B
is increased by 1. The next
two characters will be placed
to the right of the first one in
the sprite; the FOR-NEXT loop
is finished in line 160. Finally,
B is increased by 21 , and an-
other loop begins in line 120.
This places three more charac-
ters under the first three.

Lines 180-310 print a mes-
sage and illustrate a sprite-
moving technique via the cur-
sor keys. Line 230 looks at
memory locations 197 and
653, which track keyboard
presses. The sum of their
peeked values equals 7, 8, 2,
or 3, corresponding to down,
up, right, and left cursor move-
ments. Line 290 converts the
sprite's horizontal position to
pokable values for the two
horizontal-position memory reg-
isters 53248 and 53264. Line
300 does the actual poking.

Experiment by deleting the
first REM in line 80 and the print-
ing in lines 190-210. Try other
values for S in line 60. X$ in
line 50, and 26 in line 330. □

G-18 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

GRAPEVINE GROUP- ,

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MACHINE LANGUAGE

Jim Butterfield

ROTATING
BUFFERS

Here's a method

to determine

a program's starting

address and

wliether it's a BASIC

or a mactiine

language program.

You may recall an earlier ex-
pedition into liexadecimal num-
ber printing. In this column,
we'll expand on that subject.

Here's what this program
will do. The user names a pro-
gram file. Our program exam-
ines that file and reports two
things: the load address and
whether or not the last three
bytes of the file are 0. The
load address of a program
gives you a hint as to whether
this is a normal program (gen-
erated with a SAVE com-
mand) or an unusual one that
will need to be brought in with
a LOAD "filename", 8, ^ com-
mand. Normal load addresses
vary from computer to comput-
er, but these addresses al-
most always end with hexadec-
imal digits 01.

!f the load address ends
with digits 01, our program
will read the rest of the file to
catch the last three bytes. If
each of the three are 0, the pro-
gram will print ALL BASIC.

For example, a program
with a load address of $0801
that ends with three binary Os
is more than likely a BASIC lan-
guage program that was prob-
ably saved on a 64. That
means it can be loaded with
the normal ,8 extension.

The program must read all
the bytes of the file in order to
catch the last three, but it
doesn't need to save all those
bytes that it encounters first. A
buffer large enough to hold
three bytes is all that's re-
quired. As the data bytes
come from the file, they'll be
stored in one of these three ad-
dresses. A pointer wiii move
acrossthe three locations, loop-
ing around as needed. In oth-
er words, we have a rotary buff-
er, When we finally see the
END OF FILE signal, the con-
tents of those three locations
will be the pieces of informa-

tion that we want to know.

The BASiC program first
pokes the machine language
code in place. Then it asks for
a filename and opens logical
file 1. The machine language
program is called in to do the
main job. When control returns
to BASIC, the file is closed,
and the program is finished.

Note that the file is opened
and closed from BASIC. Al-
though we could do the same
job from machine language,
we'd save little time or memo-
ry it's nice to have BASIC on
hand for such jobs. On other
computers, BASIC wouldn't
be there, and you'd lose this
easy and flexible option.
Since it's built into the Commo-
dores, why not use it?

The machine language pro-
gram is situated at addresses
S2000 to $2081 . When called,
it connects to logical file 1 and
reads the first two bytes into ad-
dresses S220G and $2201.
Those bytes are converted to
hexadecimal and printed.

At address $2021 we
check to see that the last two
digits of the load address are
01. To do this, simply examine
the contents of $2200. If you
don't find value 1 there, skip to
the end of the program.

Our rotary pointer is held in
X; the value is temporarily
stored in location $2202 when
we read in a new byte from the
file. The data byte is stored in
one of three locations in the
range $2203 to $2205.

2027

STX

S2202

202A

JSR

SFFE4

202D

LDX

S2202

2030

STA

S2203

2033

INX

2034

CPX

#$03

2036

BNE

$203A

2038

LDX

#$00

203A

LOA

$90

203C

BEQ

$2027

Note that ST the status byte,
is at $90 for Commodore com-
puters from the VIC-20 on.

For early PET/CBM machines,
substitute address $96.

Once the file is completely
read, it's easy to examine the
three bytes of the buffer to
see if they're all 0.

!f the file does end with
three 0 bytes, the program
prints its ALL BASIC mes-
sage. The loop to do this is at
locations $204B to S2057.

The machine language pro-
gram disconnects from the
file by calling Kernal subrou-
tine SFFCC, prints a Return,
and then passes control
back to BASIC.

Full coding isn't given
here, but you can disassem-
ble it to see the details. Note
the changes for older PETs
on lines 110 and 270.

10 DATA 162,1,32,198,255,32,
20 DATA 228,255,141,0,34,32
30 DATA 228,255,141,1,34,169
40 DATA 36,32,210,255,162,1
50 DATA 189,0,34,32,96,32
60 DATA 202,16,247,174,0,34
70 DATA 202,208,49,142,2,34,
80 DATA 32,228,255,174,2,34
90 DATA 157,3,34,232,224,3
100 DATA 208,2,162,0,165
110 DATA 144:REM 150 FOR PET
120 DATA 240,233,169,0,162,2
130 DATA 29,3,34,202,16,250
140 DATA 170,208,13,162,0
150 DATA 189,119,32,32,210
160 DATA 255,232,224,11,208
170 DATA 245,32,204,255
180 DATA 169,13,76,210,255
190 DATA 72,74,74,74,74,32
200 DATA 107,32,104,41,15
210 DATA 120,248,24,105,144
220 DATA 105,64,216,88,76,210
230 DATA 255,32,65,76,75,32
240 DATA 66,65,83,73,67,13
250F0R J=S192TG8321:HEADX
260 POKE J,X:T=T+X:NEXT J
270 IF T0I4512 THEN STOP:

REM 14518 FOR PET
300 INPUT "NAME OF PRO-
GRAM FiLE";F$
310 0PEN15,8,15:0PEN1,8,3,F$
330 INPUT#15,E,E$,E1,E2
340 IF EoO THEN PRINT

E;E$;E1;E2:END
350 SYS 8192
360 CLOSE 1 □

G-20 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

WORLD VIEW

Emil Heyrovsky

VIEW FROM
aECHOSLOVAKIA

Don't worry if you hear us talk-
ing favorably about Commies
in Czechoslovakia these
days. Tfie Communist party
hasn't ruled in our country
since November 1989. When
we talk about Commies now,
we're talking about our Com-
modore computers.

Czechoslovakia is a free
country in the heart of Europe;
its population slightly exceeds
15 million. It's a mountainous
country with a colorful history.

iNow back to the Commies.
Thanks to the Communist re-
gime, the value of the Czecho-
slovak crown has fallen drasti-
cally in comparison to its pre-
World War II value. The pre-
sent exchange rate is about
30 crowns to the U.S. dollar.

Now hold your breath. The
average monthly salary of a
Czechoslovak citizen today is
2,700 crowns. That's about
$90. During the Communist
rule, a 64 was available only
through special shops for al-
most 10,000 crowns ($330). A
1541 disk drive unit cost
about the same amount.

At that time, though, the av-
erage salary was much lower,
and the exchange rate was ab-
surd. The only rational way to
get a computer was to import
it from Germany or another
West European country.
Thanks to bureaucratic Com-
munist formalities, this was nev-
er an easy process. Nowa-
days, a 64 costs about 5000
crowns ($165). Since it's now
easy to travel throughout Eu-
rope and the formalities are
minimal, most people prefer to
buy their 64s in Germany.

Compared with other 8-bit-
ters, 64s are probably the
most widespread machines
here; Sinclair Spectrums for-
merly held that distinction.
There are also some Atari,
Sord, and Sharp computers

around. As for 16-bit ma-
chines, the Amiga 500 is very
popular, as is the Atari line.
IBM compatibles are pur-
chased by business people,
but Apples and f^acs are sel-
dom seen.

Commodore software isn't
available in stores here. As far
as I know, there has never
been any means of buying soft-
ware for our beloved comput-
ers. As a result, 90 percent of
all programs around here are
pirated.

Here's another reason why
pirating is so widespread: A
standard game costs about
750 crowns ($25), which is
about one-third of an average
monthly salary. Only a mad-
man would consider buying
software at that price. All over
Europe there are teams of soft-
ware crackers providing cop-
ies of pirated software, and pro-
grams without copy protection
spread quickly.

The most common way to
get software on disk or tape,
which is stili popular here, is to
swap programs with your
friends. Another method is to
pick up a bunch of disks or a
couple of tapes and head for
a Commodore club. There are
two of them here in Prague,
and trading is popular, fvlem-
bers might swap Bard's Tale
3 for Last Ninja 3 or Boulder
Dash for fvlaniac Mansion, or
possibly buy a 1541 brochure.
One club publishes instruction
manuals for programs and pe-
ripherals as well as for comput-
ers. The club is combined
with an Amiga group, which
has a bad effect on weaker
individuals, who, instead of
squeezing bytes out of their
64s, bounce off to Amigaland,

Club meetings usually take
place twice a month in a rent-
ed hall Some tables are put to-
gether to form a counter for sell-
ing books and brochures; oth-
er tables are used for trading
and copying. Copying is per-
formed on 64s or 128s with

disk drive units or Datasette
tape recorders, which often
have some kind of homemade
adapter for smooth copying.
Members or visitors bring
equipment from home, since
the club doesn't provide com-
puters. Once a month, lec-
tures on computer topics are
held. Most of the people you
meet at a club are young.

I've noticed recently that
the number of Commodore
owners is slowly decreasing.
I'll try to expiain why. The 64
and 128 are generally consid-
ered to be affordable game ma-
chines. A person who v^ants to
do word processing or some
other "serious" application
thinks of buying an IBfi4 or com-
patible. Amigas are bought by
wealthier game players (or se-
rious users), Because some
people have never learned to
use their Commies fully, they
don't think much of them, and
they want to get rid of them.

IVIodems are almost un-
known here. This is due partly
to our rotting telecommunica-
tion system and also to public
ignorance of electronic bulle-
tin boards and E-mail. Moreo-
ver, long-distance calls are
extremely expensive. Just a
normal chat with an overseas
friend can swallow and digest
your salary in a jiffy.

Many new computer maga-
zines are showing up on our
newsstands, but several of
them are just translations of
German or other imported pub-
lications. Unfortunately, we
don't get COMPUTE, and
there isn't a good magazine
available here that's dedicat-
ed to the 8-bit Commodores.
That's too bad because, as !
said, many Commodore own-
ers in Czechoslovakia often
never really learn what great
machines they have.

Emil Heyrovsky lives in Pra-
gue. He is the coauthor of Pad-
lock (January 1992). □

Tlie64

and 128 remain
popular in
Czeciioslovakia,
along with
tape drives, user
groups— and
software pirates.

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE G-21

GEOS

Steve Vander Ark

The more

graphics you collect,

the more

you wish for a way

to access

and organize them

better.

GRAPHIC SCRAPS

Since desktop publishing and
writing are what I do most with
GEOS, I collect graphics,
along with utilities to handle
them as efficiently as possible.
In earlier columns I've men-
tioned some of the better sourc-
es for GEOS graphics — Lamb
Art & Design, for example —
and suggested ways to con-
vert graphic images from oth-
er formats into GEOS.

After you've collected all
these terrific graphics, you
still have to get them into your
documents. Back in the Au-
gust 1991 column i mentioned
Scrap It, a utility which clips
photo scraps out of geoPaint
documents. Since many collec-
tions of artwork for GEOS
come in that form, Scrap It is
essential. Other collections
come in prepared photo al-
bums, such as the clip art
files from Susan Lamb (3575
East County 18th Street,
Yuma, Arizona 85365) and
those from GeoWorks itself
(GEOSCtipArt Disk 2150 Shat-
tuck Avenue, Berkeley, Califor-
nia 94704), Graphics have to
make it into photo scrap form,
f they're going to be of any
use, because photo scraps
are the way GEOS moves im-
ages between applications.

A photo scrap is simply a
small chunk of bitmap, the dot
pattern that makes up a graph-
ic image. The GEOS operat-
ing system tags photo scraps
as system files and handles
them in a special way. You
can't rename a photo scrap,
for example, since applica-
tions are designed to look lor
the filename PHOTO SCRAP
when you select a tool to im-
port a graphic into your docu-
ment. There can be only one
such file with that filename on
any given disk at a time. Pho-
to albums are collections of
such scraps, and the key to us-
ing photo scraps efficiently is
to handle albums efficiently.

The primary tool for han-
dling phioto albums is the pho-
to manager desk accessory
(currently in version 2.1,
which works in 40- and 8G-col-
umn modes). Since the photo
manager can access any of
the photo albums on the disk,
you use it to find the image
you want and copy or cut it in-
to an individual scrap. That
scrap can then be imported us-
ing the Edit menu functions.

So far that's basic GEOS op-
eration, and you've likely mas-
tered it already. But the more
graphics you collect, the
more you wish for a way to ac-
cess and organize them bet-
ter. The photo manager per-
forms its job admirably, but it
can't access scraps on anoth-
er drive. This means your pho-
to albums, which are tremen-
dous disk-space eaters, must
be specially prepared for
each project, with only the im-
ages you'll require, or copied
in and out as needed. But
then if you want to create an
album of only the clips you're
likely to need, there's no easy
way to move them from one al-
bum to another without open-
ing and closing each album to
make a transfer.

Now if you've read this col-
umn before, you know that I on-
ly pose dilemmas if I have a so-
lution in mind. In the case of
photo scraps, there are sever-
al excellent utilities available
which can make all this shuf-
fling of graphics a breeze. The
program AlbumCopy by Ivli-
chael Myers presents you
with a control panel which al-
lows you to select source and
destination albums and then
flip through the clips to
choose which ones you'd like
to transfer, ft can't get much
easier than that! To download
it from Q-Link, request AL-
BUMCOPY, which was upload-
ed by GeoLib PH.

This utility IS also handy for
reducing the size of any over-
size photo albums you've creat-

ed with earlier versions of
GEOS that the GEOS 2.0 pho-
to manager can't handle. This
happens because the version
2.0 albums hold only half as
many clips as those of the old-
er modei— 60 as compared to
120. If you'd rather just revert
to the old version so you can
work with the old photo man-
ager, get a copy of Album
Reverter, written by Joe Buck-
ley (ALBREV.SFX on Q-Link,
uploaded by Red Storm), This
utility reverses the update proc-
ess that the new photo manag-
er automatically performs
when you try to open an older-
style album.

But the single most helpful
program you can get for using
photo scraps comes in two in-
carnations, one a desk acces-
sory and the other an applica-
tion. Scrapgrab, the desk ac-
cessory version, lets you se-
lect a photo from an album or
a scrap on a disk in a different
drive. The application version,
identical except that it handles
larger scraps, is called Pho-
tograb. To download from Q-
Lmk, look for SCRAPGRAB
and PHOTOGRAB. GeoLib
PH uploaded both of these.

With these utilities you can
finally keep your photo collec-
tion where it belongs—on a
graphics collection disk — and
access your clip art when you
need it from within geoPublish
or other applications without
those albums taking up every
inch of disk space on your
main work disk. The addition
of these two files will let you ef-
fortlessly use your clip art, not
be strapped down by it.

Imagine a disk of photo al-
bums, all sorted into catego-
ries, which you can access,
browse through, and select
from at will as you geoPublish
along. You'll never again have
to drop out of your document
to track down a graphic when
you keep your graphics on a
library disk and Scrapgrab on
your work disk. D

G-22 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

The Gazette
Productivity
Manager ^

(Formerly PowerPak) ^^ ^/

Harness the productivity
power of your 64 or 128!

Turn your Commodore into
a powerful workhorse, keep track
of finances, generate reports
in a snap, manage your
money in minutes-
all with the new 1991
Gazette Productivity
Manager! Look at all
your 64/128 Productivity
Manager disk contains.

GemCalc 64 & 128—

A complete, powerful, user-
friendly spreadsheet with all
the features you'd expect
in an expensive commercial package

(separate 64 and 128 versions are included).

Most commands can be performed with a single keypress!

Memo Card — Unleashes the power of a full-blown
database without the fuss! Nothing's easier — it's a
truly simple computerized address file. Just type in
your data on any one of the index cards. Need to edit?
Just use the standard Commodore editing keys.
Finished? Just save the data to floppy. What could be
easier?

Financial Planner — Answers all of those questions
concerning interest, investments, and money manage-
ment that financial analysts charge big bucks for! You
can plan for your children's education and know
exactly how much it will cost and how much you need
to save every month to reach your goal. Or, decide
whether to buy or lease a new car. Use the compound
interest and savings function to arrive at accurate
estimates of how your money will work for you.
Compute the answer at the click of a key!

DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS
POWERFUL WORKHORSE!

(MasterCard and Visa accepted on orders with subtotal over $20).

. Prodactivity Manager disk(s)

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Send your order to Gazette 1991 Productivity Manager,
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PROGRAMMER'S PAGE

Randy Thompson

POKE, WAIT, AND SYS

Use this handy reference sheet when
you want to get your hands dirty muck-
ing around in your 64's RAM, interro-
gating and manipuiaiing memory, and
making unconventional (and often un-
authorized) direct calls to ROM.

Some commands will not work in im-
mediate mode and must be run from
within a program. Tips with an asterisk
have been known to cause side ef-
fects— but sometimes you need to
break a few rules 1o get the job done.

WAIT is probably the least utilized of
these three commands, so I'll use the
rest of this column for a mini lesson in
its use. WAIT halts the execution of a
BASIC program until the contents of the
memory address meet the conditions
specified.

What ail this means is that WAIT is a
great statement to simplify key fetches
and delays. Here are a few ways it can
be used in your programs.

10 WAIT198,15:GETAS

This line waits for a key to be pressed.

10 WAIT 197,63:KEY=PEEK(197)
20 WAIT 197,64

Line 10 waits for a key to be pressed,
and line 20 waits for it to be released.

10 WAIT 653,1
20 WAIT 643.1,1

Line 10 waits for Shift to be pressed,
and line 20 waits for it to be released.
Change the 1 in each line to 2, and the
program waits for the press and re-
lease of the Commodore key. Substi-
tute a 4 to wait for the Ctrl key.

Contributors to this list of coding voo-
doo are Michael Hall of De Soto, Tex-
as; Jerry Krebs of Taylor, Texas; Stacy
Olivas of Graham, Washington; and He-
len Roth of Los Angeles, California.

"Programmer's Page" is interested in
your programming tips and tricks.
Send them to Programmer's Page.
COMPUTE'S Gazette, 324 West Wen-
dover Avenue, Suite 200, Greensboro,
North Carolina 27408. We'll pay $25-
$50 for each tip we pubiish. □

G-24 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

Screen Command

Function

POKE 646, C

changes cursor color (0-15)

POKE 53280, C

changes border color (0-15)

POKE 5328 1,C

changes bacl^ground color (0-15)

POKE 53272,21

switches to uppercase mode

POKE 53272,23

switches to lowercase mode

POKE 53265.PEEK(53265) AND 239

turns off the screen display

POKE 53265. PEEK(53265) OR 16

turns on the screen display

P0KE211,C

moves cursor to specified column (0-79)

POKE 214,fl

moves cursor to specified rov/ (0-24)

SYS 59296

clears the screen and prints READY

SYS 58726

homes the cursor

SYS 59516

moves the cursor down

SYS 59626

scrolls the screen up

SYS 59848

scrolls the screen down'

SYS 59749

inserts a line

Keyboard Command

Function

POKE 198.0

clears keyboard buffer

POKE 650,128

enables autorepeat for all keys

POKE 650,127

disables autorepeat for all keys

POKE 650,0

enables autorepeat for only the cursor keys,

space bar, and Inst/Del key (computer's default)

POKE 649.1

disables keylMard buffer

POKE 649.0

disables keylward

POKE 649.10

returns keyboard to normal

POKE 808.239

disables Run/Stop key'

POKE 792.193

disables Restore key

POKE 808.234

disables Run/Stop-Restore and LIST*

POKE 808,237:POKE 792,71

reenables Run/Stop-Reslore and LIST

WAIT 653.1

waits for Shift to be pressed

WAIT 653.2

waits for Commodore key to be pressed

WAIT 653,4

waits for Ctrl to be pressed

BASIC Command

Function

POKE 818.32

disables SAVE

POKE 818.237

enables SAVE

POKE 775,200

disables LIST

POKE 775.167

enables LIST

POKE 774,0

prevents line numbers from listing

POKE 774,24

resurrects lines numbers

POKE 204,0

turns on cursor during GET"

POKE 204,255

turns off cursor during GET

POKE 19,65

turns off question mark during INPUT*

POKE 19,0

turns on question mark during INPUT

System Command

Function

SYS 58266

prints startup message and erases BASIC program

SYS 65126

warm reboot (erases screen)

SYS 64738

cold reboot (erases program)

Miscellaneous Command

Function

POKE 56325.R

changes cursor blink rate (0-255, 58 is normal)

POKE 54296, 15:P0KE 54296,0

makes a click sound

WAIT 56320,16.16

waits for fire button of joystick In port 2 to be pressed

WAIT 56321,16,16

waits for fire button of joystick in port 1 to be pressed

SYS 62913

prints the name of the latest loaded or opened file

PROGRAMS

FILE LOGGER

By Roger Bachelder
File Logger is a sliort two-part program
that will list all the files that you have on a
disk. It presents you with the disk's BAM
title, the disk ID, and each file's starting
track and sector. File Logger's unique fea-
ture is that it also gives you each file's start-
ing and ending address.

Typing It In

The first part of File Logger is written en-
tirely in BASIC. To help avoid typing
errors, use The Automatic Proofreader
to enter the program. See "Typing
Aids" elsewhere in this section. After en-
tering the first part of the program, be
sure to save it to disk before exiting.

The second part of File Logger is writ-
ten in machine language. Use MLX,
our machine language entry program,
to type it in. Again, see "Typing Aids."
When MLX prompts, respond with the
following values.

Starting address: 6AA0
Ending address: 6E07

Save this machine language program
as LOG. ML on the same disk as the BA-
SIC program. File Logger will automat-
icaily load and run LOG. ML. so be
sure to save it with this filename.

Reading Disks

After the program runs, you'll see a
menu giving you the option to LOG
DISK or EXIT TO BASIC, Insert the
disk you want to check and enter 1.
You'll then be asked whether or not
you want the output sent to a printer.

File Logger will then read the direc-
tory and present you with the disk
name, ID, file type, track, sector, and
blocks. It will then ask you if you want
to see the starting and ending address-
es. It prints this information in hexadec-
imal notation.

FILE LOGGER

HE 10 rFPEEK(830)=lTHEN720

CQ 15 IFPEEK(27296)<>169THENLO

AD"L0G.HL",8,1
QJ 17 POKE808,225:POKE146,0
XS 20 POKE 53281,6:POKE53280,6

:CLR
JR 25 DIMF? (100) :TPS(a)="XXX":

TPS(2)="PRG";TP$(1)="SEQ

HG 30 TP$(3)="USR":TP$ (4)="REL
n

QD 40 H$="0123456789ABCDEF"
RH 50 PRINTCHR$(142) ; "{CLR}

PUTE PUBLICATIONS INTL L

TD"
RA 51 PRINT" {10 SPACES}ALL RIG

HTS RESERVED"
JE 55 PRINT"{DOWN} {WHT}

{9 SPACES}? I L E

{3 SPACES}L 0 G G E R"
DH 60 PRINT"{3 SPACES}{35 T}"
DQ 80 PRINT"iD0WN}f2a SPACES}"
AJ 90 PRINT" [3 DOWN] 1 --

{YEL}LOG DISK"
CD 100 PRINT'MDOWN} (WHT} 2 --

{spaceHyel}exit to BAS

IC"
PH 120 PRINT"{2 DOWN} {WHT} plea

SE SELECT (1 - 2) :"; :P0

KE204,0
FX 130 GETA$
QG 140 IFA$="l"THENia0
KP 150 IFAS-"2"THENPOKE204,1:P

RINTAS:END
KR 170 GOTO130
QK 180 PRINT"{CLR}{5 DOWN}

{WHT} SEND OUTPUT TO PR

INTER (Y/N) :"; ;POKE204,

GETAS

IFAS="Y"THENPOKE204, 1:P

RINTAS!Z=4:GOTO2 30

IFAS = "N"THENPOKE204 , 1:P

RINTAS:Z=3!GOTO230

GOTO190

PRINT" {CLR} {4 DOWN)

{WHT}LOOKING AT DIRECTO

RY. . ."; :BM$="":0PEN15,8

,15,"I":OPEN3,8,3,"5"

CLOSE4:OPEN4,Z:DN=Z-3:T

B=10*DN

F0RX=1T0142:GET#3,A$:NE

XT : PR INT".", •

F0RX=1T016:GET#3,B$:BMS

=BMS+BS : NEXT : PRINT " . " ;

GET#3,A$,A$:GET#3,I1$,I

IFZ=4THENPRINT#4,CHR$ (1

3) ;CHR$(13)

PRINT"{CLR}"; :PRINT#4,T

ab(tb);"{8 spaces}bam t

ITLE{13 SPACES}ID"
IFZ=3THENPRINT"{WHT}
{8 SPACES}<t24 T}"
IFZ=4THENPRINT#4,TAB(TB
);"{8 SPACES}

190

200

210

220

230

240

250

260

270

275

280

290

29 5

RF 300 ID5=I1$+I2$:PRINT"{WHT}
"; :PRINT#4,TAB(TB) ;"
{a SPACES}"; :PRINT#4,BH
$;"{6 SPACES}";ID$

PJ 305 IFZ=4THENPRINT#4,CHR$(1
3) ;CHRS(13)

GP 310 PRINT"(2 DOWN} {WHT}"; :P
RINT#4,TAB(TB) ; "
13 SPACES}TRK SEC BLKS

{4 SPACES}FILENAME

{5 SPACESJTYPE"
KA 320 IFZ=3THENPRINT"{WHT}

{3 SPACES}{33 T>"
SP 325 IFZ=4THENPRINT#4,TAB(TB-

);"{3 SPACES}

F0RJ=1T0 92:GET#3,AS:NEX

M=M+1:GET#3,K9,TS,SS:IF

SS=""THENS$=CHR$(0)

F$="":FORJ=lT016:GET#3,

A$:FS = F$4-A$:NEXTJ

FORJ=1TO10;GET#3,A$:NEX

L=0: IFA$<>""THENL=ASC (A

PRINT#4,TAB(TB) ;"

{3 SPACES}"; : PRINT"

{WHT}";

L$=RIGHT$ (STR5(L) ,2) :IF

LEFT${LS,1)=" "THENL9 = ''

"+RIGHT$(L$,1)
IFASC (TS+CHRS (0) ) =0THEN
IFL=0THEN560
T$=RIGHTS (STR$ (ASC (T$) )
,2) :IFLEFT$(TS,1)=" "TH
ENT$="0"+RIGHT$(T$,1)
S$=RIGHT$(STR$(ASC(SS))
,2) :IFLEFT${SS,1)=" "TH
ENS5="0"+RIGHT?(S$,1)
K=ASC(K$+CHR$(0) )-128
IFK<1ORK>5THENK=0
PRINT#4,T$;"(2 SPACES}"
; : PRINT" {WHT}";
PRINT#4,S6;"{2 SPACES}"
; : PRINT" {WHT}";
PRINT#4,L$;"{3 SPACES)"
; :PRINT"{WHT}";
K$=TP$(K) :PRlNTt4,F$;"
{SPACE}"; :PRINT"{WHT}";
IFK=0THENPRINT " {WHT ) " ;
PRINT#4,KS:IFK<>2THEN52
0

F5{Q)=F$;Q=Q+1
GET#3,A$;IFM<8THENGET#3
,A$,A$:GOTO540
H = 0 -

IFST=0THEN340
CLOSES
PRINT: PRINT" {DOWN) {YEL}

DISPLAY {WHT} START
{YEL}& {WHTlEND {YEL}AD
DRESSES ({WHT}y{yEL}/

{wht)n{yel}) {WHT}:"; :P0

KE204,0

GETA$

IFA$="Y"THENPOKE204,I;P

RINTA5:GOTO610

IFA$="N"THENPOKE204 , 1: P

RINTA$:POKE830,0:GOSUB9

00:RUN

GOTO570

SYS27296

PRINT#4,CHR$(13) ;CHR$(1

3) : PRINT" {CLR}"

CL0SE3:X=-1

330

340

350

360

370

38a

390

400

410

420

430

440

450

460

470

480

490

500

510

520

530

540

550

560

PQ 570
HJ 580

PJ 590

CP 600
JX 610
XP 620

HA 630

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE G-25

PROGRAMS

AX 640 PRIfJT"{WHT}"; :PRINT#4,T
AB(TB);"t5 SPACES}FILEN
AME{9 SPACES) START
{3 SPACES}END"

CK 645 IFZ=4THENPRINT#4,TAB(TB
};"{5 SPACES}

CA 650

FE 660

RC 670

DC 680

PC 690

KH 700

JF 710

GP 720

AH 730

XC 74 0

JH 750

EF 760

SB 770

FP 730

XP 790

XA 800

XA 810

PJ 900

PC 90 5

SB 910

KP 920

ME 930

CH 94 0

FR 945

GF 946

CD 950

LOG.ML

IFZ=3THENPRINT" {WHT}
[5 SPACES}{29 TJ"

X=X+1:IFFS (X)=""THENPOK
E830,0:GOSUB90 0:RUN
PRINT"{WHT5"; :PRINT#4,T
AB(TB);"{5 SPACES }";FS(

X);" ";

F0RV=16T01STEP-1:P$=MID
S(F$(X: ,V,1)

IFP$=CHR$(160)THENNEXTV
F$=LEFT$ (F$ (X) ,V)
POKE 83 0 , 1 : LOADF$ , 8 , 1
A=PEEK(823) :B=PEEKC329)
PRINT" {WHT}"; :GOSUB780
PRINTi4,"{2 SPACES}";
A=PEEK(175) :B=PEEK(174)
PRINT" {WHT)"; :GOSUB780
PRINT#4:GOTO660
PRINT#4,"$"; :W=A:G0SUB7
90:W=B:GOSUB7 90:RETURN
J=INT (W/16) :I=W-J*16
AS=MIDS(HS,J+1,1) :BS=MI
D$(H$, 1+1,1)
PRINT#4,A$;B$; :RETURN
PRINT:PRINT
PRINT" {HOME) {23 DOWN)
{BLU)f7 SPACES)PRESS AN

Y KEY TO CONTINUE"
FORDE=1TO100:GETAS: IFA$
<>""THEN950

PRINT"{HOME} {23 DOWN}

{WHT) {7 SPACES}PRESS AN

Y KEY TO CONTINUE"
FORDE=1TO100:GETA$:IFA$
<>""THEN950

GOTO905

RETURN

eAA0
6AA8
6AB0
6AB8
6AC0
6AC8
6AD0
6AD8
6AE0
6AE8
6AF0
6AF8
6800
6B08
6B10
6B18
6B20
6B28
6B30
eB33

;A9 C0 8D

;31 03 60

;30 03 A9

;00 8C 3C

:85 93 AS

:Bl BB 09

:E0 08 90

:AS 93 4C

;F0 6D C8

lEF 6D C4

;6D 20 AF

t6C AD 00

;15 D0 8D

;6C 8 5 AE

;03 80 SF

;57 20 E7

;2fl AS FF

:20 AE FF

:AE 90 03

:0F 60 8D

30 03 A9
00 00 A9
F4 BD 31

03 3E 3D
D0 13 8C
24 F0 0A

04 E0 0C
A5 F4 Bl
C9 3A D0
B7 90 EF
F5 AS 11
DD 8D 13
14 6C A9
84 AF A9
6C 8C 10
6B A0 00
C8 C0 20
18 98 65
E6 AF 18
0F 6C 90

6A 8D 50
A5 8D 62
03 60 7A
03 60 38
EF 6D 77
A6 BA 98
90 05 07

99 C8
80 E6

BC EE 71
8D 12 78
6C AD 8C

59 A0 E5
00 A0 59

60 A9 9B
Bl AE 6D
90 F6 5C
AE 85 79
98 6D CD
03 EE EE

6B40; 10

6B48:04

6B50:0F

6B58:E7

6B60:DD

6863:00

6B70:AD

6B78:24

6B80:AF

6B88: 3C

6B90:A2

6B98:6E

6BA0:B9

6HA8:AE

6BB0:BD

6BB8:02

6BC0:AD

6BC8:9a

6BD0:60

6BD8:11

6BE0:14

6BE8:0E

6BF0:90

6BF8:A0

6C00:CB

6C08:6B

6C10:03

6C18:50

6C20:AD

6C2e:07

6C30:20

6C38:DD

6C40:4A

6C48:4A

6C50:DD

6C58:60

6C60:A2

6C68:85

6C70:03

6C78:B0

6080:86

6038:40

6090:68

6098

6CA0:fl6

6CA8:B8

6CB0:F5

6CB3:1C

6CO0:E0

6008:05

6CD0:04

6CD8

6CE0

6CE8

6CF0:06

6CF8:A9

6D00:D0

6D08:0F

6D10

6D18

6D20

6D28

6D30:41

6D38:00

6D40:E8

6D48

6D50

6D58

6D60

6068

77 0

;01
:00
:0e

;03
:8D
;8D
;1C

;00
;1C
:18
:85
; 00

6C C9

90 CC
60 80
6B 20

29 03
DD 2C

11 D0
6C A9
20 15
F0 05
01 AS
AC 0 3
D0 04

84 AF
00 6E
E6 AF
00 6E

30 06
40 30
AD 13
60 8D
60 A5
30 13
00 B9

00 06
4C 07
20 00
FB A0

12 D0
F0 F5
AA EA
4A 4A
EA EA
45 11
EA 99
F0 3F

01 A5
06 86
R9 E0
F2 8D
F9 8D
06 D5
69 01

3 A5

85 31
AD 01
A0 BA
99 00
F8 20
A9 05
0F 07
0E 06
20 C5
4A 4A

29 0F
01 8D
FB BE
8D 00
8D 00
00 18
00 18
60 33
49 FF
10 A8
08 8A
IC 29
A9 8F

30 FB
22 20
IC 29

A7 AD 10
A9 02 A0
10 60 A9
AE FF 78

85 11 09
00 DD 70

29 07 69

00 8D 15

60 AC 00

A9 FF 8D

AF D0 17

6E 20 B9

A6 C3 A4

A2 03 A0

Bi AE E6

EC 01 6E

D0 BC 20

A6 AE A4

F5 AD 12

6C 8D 00

15 D0 58

BA 20 Bl

A9 FF 20

00 60 20

90 F5 60

F7 4D 2D

97 00 20

00 38 A6

E9 32 90

8E 00 DD

EA 24 80

EA 4D 00

4D 00 DD

00 6S 08

A9 08 8D

22 D0 02

37 A9 D0

20 25 03

00 18 60
93 02 9D
85 06 86
8D 76 03
06 20 Dl
20 0A F5
10 91 30
50 FE B8

01 08 D0
E9 F5 05
40 69 F9
0D 05 0B
80 04 0A
03 A0 00
4A 4A 48
AA BD

00 18

78
2C

00 18 8A
18 68 AA
18 0A 29
08 D0 08
4D 00 IC
35 06 E5
18 69 01
30 03 CA
29 03 85
FC 05 44
8D 05 18
98 D0 D9
4B F2 85
9F ID lA

6C E9 SE

03 8D 9F
45 20 11
AD 00 2A
20 8D A3
FB 18 FO
2F 8D DB
D0 85 99
6E 3 0 13

01 6E 9B
AE 02 EA
6A A5 7B
C4 86 34
00 E8 9B
AE D0 BE
90 EF El
D4 6B C4
AF 18 A2
6C 85 64
DD AD A2
60 8D 16
FF 24 2E
93 FF 00
A8 FF 4D
20 D4 7D
45 02 B5
00 DD 7A
11 EA 95

04 29 12
8A 09 FD
AD 00 4E
DD 4A FA
DD 4A 75
8E 00 23
D0 04 03
00 18 AE
A9 12 95
20 25 30
09 02 IE
A2 00 9F
5B 02 95
07 18 BC
68 80 0F
03 A9 FA
50 FE CD
C8 D0 DA
AD 01 40
F4 2 0 A9
3A F0 17
4C IE DD
03 09 84

02 08 8B
B9 00 23
B9 00 2C

03 AA 24
00 18 22
BA 29 3C
BD 78 31
0F EA 4F
A9 08 4E
8D 00 25
22 F0 85
0A AE 91
88 2C B2
44 AD 0A
8D 00 73
20 05 54
A5 06 93
43 AD 21

04 8D 50

6D70;
6078;
6D80;
6D88;
6D90;
6098;
6DA0;
6DA8;
6DB0;
6DB8;
6DC0;
6DC8;
6DD0:
6DD8;
6DE0;
60E8;
6DF0;
6DF8;
6E00;

00 10 60
12 A2 01
A9 02 85
29 87 09
04 BD 97
08 C9 2A
0E C8 E8
A9 A0 09
A5 0A 69
06 AD 00
A4 0A 08
20 8 8 0 3
06 F0 11
10 EE 8C
00 06 30
03 A9
31 39
2D 4D 2F
F6 00 00

01
39

00 20
20 32
0A A8
82 D0
04 D9
F0 23
EC 9 5
03 06
20 90
06 D0
80 50
BE 01

30 0F
50 01
E4 R9
40 69

31 20
40 A0
00 00

40 60
03 30
B9 00
21 AE

03 06
09 3F

04 90
F0 11
CC AE
BD F0
01 D0
06 B9
20 32
A9 FF
12 20
F9 03
40 4F
A0 A0
00 00

A9 CA

5A 7F
06 34
96 3A
F0 E7
D0 CD
E9 68
18 lA
01 26
lA DB
03 7D
00 B5
03 70
8D 4A
Dl 39
00 D7
47 05
A0 Dl
00 58

Roger Bachelder does his program-
ming in Salem, Oregon.

DEMO MAKER

By Danny English

Creating a colorful, eye-catching demon-
stration can be a difficult task, but it's a
snap with Demo Maker. You can create
and edit rasters, text, scrolling effects,
and many other options with the touch of
a key. When you save your finished de-
mo on disk, it can be loaded and run like
a BASIC program.

You can use Demo Maker as a loader
with instructions to load and execute an-
other program, or you can use it to make
an exciting title to your own creation. The
vivid raster display will add luster to the
dullest program.

Typing It In

Demo Maker consists of two programs.
The first part is written entirely in ma-
chine language. You must enter this pro-
gram with MLX, our machine language
entry program. See "Typing Aids" else-
where in this section. When MLX
prompts you, respond with the values
given below.

Starling address: 3F7B
Ending address: 4A7A

When you've finished typing, be sure
to save the program to disk with the
name DEMO. CODE. The second part
of Demo Maker will load this program
by that name.

Demo Maker's editor is written en-
tirely in BASIC. To help avoid typing er-

G-26 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

rors, use The Automatic Proofreader to
enter this program. See "Typing Aids"
again.

Raster Magic

When both programs are saved on
disk, load the BASIC Demo Maker and
type RUN. The demo code will be load-
ed, followed by the menu screen.

Creating a demo with the editor is
very simple, Use the cursor keys to
move the pointer up and down the op-
tions. To change colors, move the point-
er to the color you wish to change and
press the + or - keys. The colors will cy-
cle forward or backward to the color
you desire.

The raster colors are all coded by
shades. For example, shades of red in-
clude brown, pink, and orange.
Shades of yellow are actually a rain-
bow of colors. For effect, the large
scrolling raster is split in half, allowing
two shades to be seen at once.

Text Options

The demo screen has a scrolling text
display in the lower screen, fading or
flashing text in the middle, and large ti-
tle text at the top. There are options on
the menu to edit all of these. To select
one of the options, move the pointer
and press Return.

Because of the way the text is
stored, a special text-entry routine is
used that doesn't allow you to use the
cursor keys. You simply type from left
to right, however, and the cursor will
wrap around normally. The Delete key
does work in its normal fashion. Press
Return when you've finished entering,
and the text will be stored in the demo.

The large title letters were created us-
ing a special character set. This char-
acter set doesn't contain punctuation
marks or numbers; therefore, use only
letters A to Zwhen entering the title.

In the center of the screen is a
large section of text that's fading or
flashing. The menu has options to con-
trol the color and speed of the fading.
Notice that the top and bottom lines of
this text appear on rasters in the demo.
The color of these lines is specified in
the menu by the text on raster color.

Saving the Demo

You can preview your demo at any
time by pressing the space bar. Press-

ing the space bar again will return to
the menu. When the demo looks the
way you want it, move the pointer to
the save option and press Return.
You'll then be asked if it should boot an-
other file. If you enter Y, you'll be
prompted for the filename and SYS ad-
dress if it's a machine language pro-
gram. If you enter N, the program will
tell the demo to return to BASIC after
viewing.

The next prompt is the filename for
the actual demo. Saving the program
takes more than a minute, but then it
can be loaded and run like a BASIC pro-
gram. If the demo is to boot another
file, be sure to save it on the same
disk. After watching the demo, press
the space bar to continue.

Feel free to experiment with color
combinations and creative text dis-
plays. Whether you're making the title
to a game or just an attractive display.
Demo Maker will amaze you.

3F7B:0a 0^08 0A 00 9E 32 30 6D

3F83:36 34 00 00 00 49 00 8C DB

3F8B:EA EA EA EA EA EA EA EA 0A

3F93:EA EA EA EA EA EA EA EA 12

3F9B:EA EA EA EA EA EA EA EA lA

3FA3:ie A9 78 85 FB 69 85 85 16

3FAB:25 A9 0A 85 FC 69 08 85 E3

3FB3:26 18 A9 00 65 FB 85 27 CD

3FBB:A9 40 65 FC 85 28 A2 FF AD

3FC3:A0 00 SC FE CF 8C FF CF 94

3FCB:Fa 04 Bl 25 91 27 C6 25 28

3FD3:E4 25 D0 02 06 26 C6 27 CB

3FDB:E4 27 D0 02 C6 28 C6 FB 31

3FE3:E4 FB D0 E6 06 FC E4 FC 4D

3FEB:D0 E0 A5 28 C9 A0 B0 0A 7E

3FF3:aS 34 85 38 AS 27 85 33 7E

3FFB:85 37 4C B2 46 20 20 20 D2

4003:20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 83

400B:20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 SB

4013:20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 93

401B:20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 QB

4023:20 20 20 20 20 20 05 01 4E

402B:13 19 20 14 0F 20 03 15 D4

4033:13 14 0F 0D 09 lA 05 20 CF

403B:09 0E 14 0F 20 19 0F 15 CF

4043:12 20 0F 17 0E 20 04 05 26

404B:0D 0F 21 21 20 20 20 20 2E

4053:20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 D3

405B:20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 DB

4063:20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 E3

40eB:20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 EB

4073:20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2A FD

407B:20 12 01 13 14 05 12 20 DA

4083:03 0F 0C 0F 12 13 20 20 F8

408B:20 20 20 20 2A 20 14 05 29

4093:18 14 20 03 0F 0C 0F 12 32

409B:13 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 95

40A3:2fl 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 24

40AB:20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 2C

40B3:

40BB:

40C3:

4 0CBi

40D3:

40DB:

4 0E3:

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410B-

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412B

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4163

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4173

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4183

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4193

419B

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4 IBB

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4103

41DB

41E3

03.

41EB

41F3

41FB

4203

420B

4213

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4223

422B

4233

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4243

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4253

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4263

42eB

4273

427B

4283

428B

4293

429B

42 A 3

4 2AB

42B3

4 2BB

42C3

4 2CB

42D3

42DB

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE G-27

PROGRAMS

42E3
42EB

42F3
4 2FB
4 303
4 3 0B
4313
431B
4323
432B
4333
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4343
434B
4353
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4383
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4393
439B
43A3
4 3AB
43B3
43BB
43C3
4 3CB
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4 3DB
43E3
4 3EB
43F3
4 3FB
4403
440B
4413
441B
4423
442B
4433
443B
4443
444B
4453
44 5B
4463
446B
4473
447B
4483
448B
4493
449B
44A3
44AB
44B3
44Ba
44C3
44CB
44D3
44DB
44E3
44GB
44F3
44FB
4503
450B

:14 08

:05 2E

:10 0F

:09 14

:05 20

:13 21

:01 13

:07 12

:10 0F

;20 19

:2E 2E

:08 05

:14 05 20 04

:0D 01 0B 05

0 5 12
20 20
13 13
09 05
05 0E
20 20
08 20

01 10
17 05
0F 15
2E 20
20 03

:20 20

:0E 19

13 08

20 20

;1F 3C

;70 70

:78 70

;70 70

;78 78

!78 78

:78 70

:78 78

103 03

;00 00

:78 78

;7C 7E

7C 7E

;78 70

70 70

78 70

70 70

78 70

;83 03

70 70

70 38

70 70

38 IC

80 00

F0 78

3E 0E

3C IC

IC 0E

02 00

3C IC

3C 3C

C0 C0

78 78

38 70

00 00

7C FC

10 IC

3C IC

30 3E

82 80

10 10

IC 38

10 10

38 70

30 78

02 19
20 05
20 20
20 20
78 F0
70 70
E0 E0
70 70
78 78
78 78
E0 E0
78 78

03 03
00 00
78 79
78 78
77 73

77 73
E0 E0
70 70
E0 £0
70 70

78 3E
03 03
70 70
38 IC
70 70
0E 07
0E 07
00 01
3C IE
0E IC
00 00
0E 0E
00 10
00 20
00 00
30 30
00 00
78 78
E0 00
00 00
DC 90
10 9C
0E 0E
10 30
0E 0E
10 30
00 00
80 80
10 10
38 70
IC 10
E0 00
E0 00
F0 E0

20 06

14 03

09 02

13 20

04 00

15 0E

14 08
08 09
12 20
12 20
2A 2A
0F 0D

05 0D
12 20

2 0 04
0E 07
20 20
00 00
F0 00
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E0 00

70 00
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7F 00
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7F 00

03 00
00 00
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78 00

71 00
71 00
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7F 00
E0 00
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0F 00
03 00

70 00
IC 00

71 00
03 00
03 00
03 00
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00 00
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F0 00
E0 00
00 00
FC 00
00 30
78 00
80 00
00 00

10 00
DC 00
0E 00
F8 00
0E 00
F8 00
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80 00
10 00
70 00
IC 00
80 00
80 00
C0 F0

4513:F0
451B:70
4523:70
452B:70
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453B:78
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4548:78
4553:03
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4568:78
4573:70
457B:70
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458B:70
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459B:70
45A3:F8
45AB:03
43B3:70
45BB: 07
4 5C3:7E
4 5CB:1C
45D3:03
45DB:3C
45E3:1E
45EB:0E
45F3:1C
45FB:0E
4603:00
460B:00
4613:10
461B:3C
4623:C0
462B:78
4633:70
4638:00
4643:10
464B:1C
4653:10
465B:00
4663:7C
466B:70
4673:10
467B:80
4683:1C
468B:C0
4693:FC
4 6 9B:70
46A3;80
46AB:00
4eB3:A0
46BB;1D
4603:16
46CB:A2
46D3:D0
46DB:30
46E3:47
46EB:B9
46F3:20
46FB:EF
4703:4D
470B:47
4713:47
471B:CD
4723:20
472B:B9
4733:30
473B:DC

F0 F0 F8
70 7F FF
78 3F 0F
70 7F FF
78 7F FF

00 7F
00 E0
00 70

00
00

7F
7F

78
78

78 FC

3F 0F

78 78 FC

03 03 IF

78 3F IF

78 78 FC

78 7F FF

70 70 F8

78 3F 0F

70 70 F8

78 3F BF

70 70 F8

78 3F 3F

03 03 07

38 3F 0F

03 03 01

7C 78 F0

38 70 F8

03 03 87

7 8 FF FF
IE IE 3E
3E FC F0
30 F8 E0
IC FC F0
02 FE FE
00 00 00
3C F8 E0
3C 30 7E
C0 C0 F8
F0 F0 E0
38 10 3E

08 F8 F8
IC 10 3E
IC IC 3E
30 F8 E0
00 00 00
3C FC E6
38 IC 3E
3C F8 E0
80 80 C0
38 F8 E0
80 80 00
7C 3C IE
38 IC 3E
80 80 00
02 FE FE
49 A9 01
BD 18 D0
D0 A9 00
3C B9 58
FB 20 46
D0 EF AD
20 4D 47
88 47 EC

46 47 E8
AD A3 47

47 A0 00
EC 12 D0
E8 08 00
47 8D 16

4 6 4 7 AE
58 47 99
00 F5 8E
29 01 F0

00 E0
00 7F
00 03
00 00
00 7F
00 78
00 70
00 70
00 E0
00 7F
00 El
00 7F
00 03
00 03
00 70
00 0E

00
00

00 03
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00 IE
00 FC
00 00
00 0E
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00 80
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AD CE
20 46
47 EC
47 E8
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08 00
20 46
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09 D0
D0 AD

58
57
87
03

47
47
47
40

70 70 4F

E0 E0 10

70 70 EF

78 78 61

78 78 6F

Ea E0 25

78 78 64
03 03 24
F8 70 04

79 78 7F
78 78 72
70 70 53
70 70 03
E0 E0 IE

70 70 8C
El E0 34

71 70 9E
00 00 24

03 03 86
70 70 50
0E 07 B8

77 7F 37

07 0E F2
0 3 03 2 5
0F IE C9
FE FE 18
IE 0E EA
00 00 BB
0E 0E 2B
10 00 27
20 00 A3
7E 0E 90
3C 30 92
C0 C0 89

78 78 33
C3 E0 00
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IC 10 3D
70 30 75
0E 0E B6
00 00 AD
BE EE 20
C0 E0 31
78 10 76

80 80 CD
10 10 4 9
E0 C0 5F
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00 E0 3B
80 80 59
00 00 AE
97 40 00
D0 A9 44
47 8D 0F
47 A8 16
12 D0 58

08 C0 60
20 46 46
A2 70 F4
D0 FB A0

09 D0 05

4 7 20 9D
69 88 5ft
20 46 C4
EF AD BD
A4 47 43
A0 01 49
C8 00 59
AD 0D 77
31 EA 43

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03 01
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54 48
4F 4D
45 4D
52 20
CD 47
C7 8D

07 99
F5 A0

09 A9
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69 01

8 5 FF
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04 18
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47 C9
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18 69
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09 04
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00 28
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01 60
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08 30
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FE 80
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18 00

08 02
0B 0B
01 01
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09 09
0A 0A
01 03
01 01
05 02
20 20
40 45
45 20
50 55
4F 20
C2 C4
C9 BF
CD 47
70 07
00 Bl
E0 85
8D 97
85 FE
60 A2
C9 20
48 38
69 40
90 78
04 E8
A2 00
20 00
38 E9
40 90
C8 04
E3 E8
A0 00
00 F8

08 00
99 68
FF D0

09 99
F5 60
CD 9D
B9 91
CF 09
SD Fl
00 8D
C9 01
AD F3
A9 00
09 01
CE 47
C0 80
CF 60
C9 C8
CE 47
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45 99
08 36
00 A9
0B 00
7F 80
DC A0
80 15
60 78
31 3D
03 A9

20 00

30 16
60 0A
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01 01
00 0C

02 02
0A 00
0E 06
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20 54
20 20
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07 A5
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00 A0
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04 18
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05 E8
40 90
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18 69

08 C0
99 70
60 A0
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D9 99
F5 60
F8 DA
EE F0
47 B0
47 20
0B B0
CF 60
F0 CF
F0 01
CF 09
BD F3
F0 16
C9 BF
CE 47
EE CE
F0 01
A9 00
B9 70
44 99
08 34
C8 C0
00 99
F8 60
11 00
46 A2
93 A9
A9 F0
14 03
81 80

80 21 60

D0 A9 2C

0A 0A 29

00 00 29

00 0F 7E

01 01 84
00 00 80

02 08 22
06 0B 64

00 0B BF
0B 00 DA

01 00 F0
45 40 AE
4F 20 BE
20 43 2E
20 44 E0
4B 45 7F
47 AD lA
60 R9 46
B9 71 09
27 D0 43
00 00 A8
41 85 BC
FE 18 B2
69 00 29
00 B9 00
E8 E8 03
9D 50 48
04 18 3F
69 40 4F
00 14 FF
B9 B9 30
E8 40 E4
A0 04 05
IB 69 E2
40 9D 51
14 D0 07
DB CB 22

00 99 37
F8 60 2A
F8 D9 IF
A0 00 30
C8 C0 5B
CF AD CI
17 AC 0C
83 48 S3

01 60 AB
EE Fl CI
60 AO B4
60 EE 83

03 B0 A3
CF AO C3
CE CE 77
F0 01 0A
A9 01 F7
47 AD FE
60 A9 8A

80 F2 8E
43 99 69
08 32 03
B9 E0 3E
00 00 E6
00 31 12
AO 11 26
A9 7F EF
B5 8E 44

81 80 E2
8D lA 09
A9 EA B2
00 DC 3E

G-2e COMPUTE JUNE 1992

4973;
497B;
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20 R3
30 20
02 8D
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00 B9
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00 SD

40 99
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41 49
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20 9F
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SB FF
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48 AD
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A9 00
8D F2

49 20
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20 5E
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2A 2A
2A 2A
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BA FF
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02 A9
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58 A9 F5
47 A9 23
CA D0 F2
60 A0 99
02 C8 96
15 49 13
93 20 63
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01 60 6C

02 2A 56
2A 2A BF
2A A9 47
A2 AS 9F
00 A2 Dl
20 D5 lA
F0 03 54
77 02 82
4E 8D 3C
02 A9 47
00 00 4A

DEMO MAKER

TE PUBLICATIONS INTL LTD
- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
SA 20 IF A=0 THEN A=1:L0AD"DEM

0. CODE", 8,1
HD 30 DIM CS (15) ,V(9) ,R(4)
SS 40 FOR X=0 TO 15:READ k$:C$

(X)=A$:NEXT
CG 50 FOR X=0 TO 9:REftD A:V(X)

=A:NEXT
PD 60 FOR X=0 TO 44: READ A:POK

E X+32768,A:NEXT
AA 70 R(0)=1:R(1)=2:R(2)=5:R(3

)=6:R(4)=7
RF 80 TS="YES";S=1185sKS="A":X

KS 90 B$="{WHT}-

RD 100 POKE53272,23:POKE53281,

0:POKE53280,11
PH 110 PRINT"{CLR} {D0WN)<7>

(10 SPACES}** DEMO MAKE

R **"
QE 120 PRINT" {2 DOWN}

{3 SPACES }{WHT}TITLE LE

TTERS{2 SPACEsicOLOR:

{6>"C${V(0))
AE 130 PRINT"{3 SPACES} (WHTlSC

ROLLING TEXT COLOR: i6>

"CS(V{1))

CE 140 PRINT"{3 SPACES }{WHT}TE
XT ON RASTER COLOR: ^6>

"C$(V(2>)
CE 150 PRINT"{3 SPACES } {VEL)MI

D BACKGROOND COLOR: Vi

"C$(V(3))
HD 160 PRINT"{3 SPACES ) {YEL}LO

W BACKGROOND COLOR: V>

■'C${V(4))
DX 170 PRINT"(3 SPACES} {GRN}MA

IN RASTER (2 SPACES }PART
1: {3>"CS (V(5) ) " SHADE

S"
FJ 180 PRINT" {3 SPACES} CGRN}MA

IN RASTER {2 SPACES} PART
2: <3}"C$ (V(6) ) " SHADE

S"
DG 190 PR1NT"{3 SPACES} {GRN}SM

ALL RASTER COLORS:

{PURT"CS(V(7) ) " SHADES"
SG 200 PRINT"(3 SPACES} {GRN}MI

DOLE FADER COLORS:

{PUR}"CS(V(8) )" SHADES"
OR 210 PRINT"{3 SPACES} (CYN}FA

DER SPEED (0 TO 10) :

{P0rT"v"(9)
PF 220 PRINT"{3 SPACES} {YEL} AN

IMATE TITLE: {eV'TS
AX 230 PRINT"T3 SPACES} {WHT} EN

TER TITLE TEXT"
XE 240 PRINT"{3 SPACES}ENTER S^

CROLLING TEXT"
PD 250 PRINT"! 3 SPACES} ENTER M

IDDLE TEXT"
SP 260 PRINT"T3 SPACES }{CYN}SA

VE THE DEMO"
RJ 270 PRINT"(2 D0WN}i6>

(4 SPACES }PRE£S SPACE T

0 PREVIEW THE DEMO"
BJ 280 SC=S+X*40:POKE SC,62:PO

KESC+54272,1
FD 290 GET CS:IFCS="{DOWN}" AN

D X<14 THEN POKESC,32:X

=X+1
SE 300 IFCS="{OP}"AND X>0 THEN

POKESC,32:X=X-l
GC 310 IF C$ <> "+" THEN 350
FJ 320 IF X<=4 THEN IF V(X)<15
THEN V(X)=V(X)+1:G0T01

00
DS 330 IF X=9 THEN IF V(X)<10
fSPACElTHEN V(X)=V{X)+1
;GOTO100
DJ 340 IP X<=8 THEN IF V(X)<7

{SPACB}THEN 480
EP 350 IF CS <> "-" THEN 390
AE 360 IF X<=4 THEN IF VtX)>0
fSPACEjTHEN V(X)=V{X)-1
: GOTO 100
RA 370 IF X=9 THEN IF V(X)>0 T

HEN V{X)=V(X)-1:GOTO100
XG 380 IF X<=8 THEN IF V(X)>1

{SPACE5THEN 500
JA 390 IF X=10 AND CS=CHR$(13)

THEN 460
HP 400 IF X=ll AND CS=CHR$(13)

THEN 770
FB 410 IF X=12 AND C$=CHRS(13)

THEN 640
GF 420 IF X=13 AND C$=CHR$(13)

THEN 700
BS 430 IF X=14 AND C$=CHRS(13)

THEN 1100
FP 440 IF C$=" " THEN POKE 189

85,2:GOSUB 940:SYS 1809

8:G0T0 100
XC 450 GOTO 280
RG 460 IFTS="YES" THEN TS="NO"

:GOTO100
FF 470 IFTS="NO" THEN T$="YES"

:GOTO100
SH 480 V(X)=V(X)+1:IF V(X)=3TH

ENV(X)=5
XA 490 GOTO100
KE 500 V(X)=V(X)-1:IF V(X)=4TH

ENV(X)=2
MA 510 GOTO100
PJ 520 REH * TEXT INPUT *
EQ 530 M=0
XS 540 PRINT"{RVS}{WHT} {OFF}"

KF 550 GET C$ : IFC$= ""THEN550
EJ 560 PRINT"{LEFT} {LEFT}";:I
FC$=CHR$(13)THEN RETURN
SB 570 IFCS<>CHR$(20)THEN610
XM 580 IF H=0THEN540
QR 590 M=M-1: PRINT" {LEFT}

{LEFT} ",• : IFM<1THEN530
RM 600 GOTO540

DB 610 IF C$="{Fl}"THEN RETURN
MR 620 IFM> = i:,E OR (CS<" "ORCS>

"Z") THEN540
GJ 630 M=M+1:PRINTC$; :GOTO540
HH 640 REM * SCROLLING TEXT *
JF 650 PRINT CHR9{147)B$"
{10 DOWN} "BS" {YEL}
{DOWN}ENTER THE SCROLL
{SPACeJtEXT NOW."
HX 660 PRINT"{DOWN}PRESS <RETU
RN> TO STORE, {2 SPACES}
<Fl> TO AB0RT{H0ME5
{WHT} {DOWN}";
SP 670 FOR Y=16864 TO 17263:PO
KE Y-15800,PEEK(Y) :NEXT
:LE=398:GOSUB 520
PX 680 IF C$<>"{Fl}"THEN FOR Y
=1064 TO 1463:POKE Y+15
800,PEEK{Y) :POKE Y,42:N
EXT
FQ 690 GOTO100
AX 700 REH * MIDDLE TEXT *
MB 710 PRINT CHR$(147)BS"
{12 D0WN}"B9"{YEL}
{D0WN}ENTER the MIDDLE

{spaceTtext now.

{2 spaces }first and
pr 720 priht"last lines are te

xt on rasters."
ad 730 print" {down}press <retu

rn> to store, {2 spaces}

<Fl> TO AB0RT{H0ME}
{WHT} {DOWN}";

PF 740 FOR Y=163a4 TO 16863:PO
KE Y-15320,PEEK(Y) :NEXT
:LE=479:GOSUB 520

FE 750 IF C5<>"{Fl}"THEN FOR Y
=1064 TO 1543:POKE Y+15
320,PEEK(Y) :POKE Y,42;N

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE 6-29

PROGRAMS

EXT Y
PB 760 GOTOia0
RX 770 REM * TITLE *
CR 780 PF?INT CHR$(147)BS"

{2 DOWN }"B$"{lfEL} {DOWN}
ENTER THE TITLE LETTERS
NOW."
XD 790 POKE1084,45:POKEH24,45
KX 800 PRINT"{D0WN)18 LETTERS
{SPACeJpER line (SPACES
INCLUDED) "
QD 8L0 PRINT"NO PUNCTUATION IS

ALLOWED IN TITLE."
HH 820 PRINT" {DOWN}PRESS <RETU

RN> AT END OF EACH LINE
II

XS 830 FOR Y=18341 TO 18360:P=
Y-17277:V=PEEKCY) :IF V<
>32 THEN V=V-64
GK 840 POKEP,V:NEXT
PQ 850 FOR Y=18361 TO 18380:P=
y-17257:V=PEEK(Y) :IF V<
>32 THEN V=V-64
SS 860 POKEP,V;NEXT
GE 870 PRINT"{HOME) {WHTHDOWN}

"; :LE=19:GOSUB520
JJ aSa PRINT:LE=19:GOSUB520
PB 890 FOR Y=1064 TO 1083:P=Y+
17277:V=PEEK(Y) :IF V<>3
2 THEN V=V+64
QD 900 POKEP,V:POKE Y,42:NEXT
KC 910 FOR Y=1104 TO 1122:P=Y+
17257:V=PEEK(Y) :IF V<>3
2 THEN V=V+64
POKEP,V:P0KE Y,42:NEXT
930 GOTO100

940 REM * CUSTOMIZER *
PRINT"(CLR}"
AD=18333:POKE AD,V(9)lP
OKE AD+1,V(2) :POKE AD+2
,V(0) :POKE AD+3,V(1)
BG 970 POKE AD+4,0:IF T$="YES"

THEN POKE AD+4,1
PQ 980 POKE AD+6,V(3) :POKE AD+

7,V(4)
BP 990 REM * RASTERCOL *
FK 1000 Y=32768jFOR T=0 TO 3:1
F R(T)<>V(7) THEK Y=Y+
9: NEXT
XC 1010 A=18312:GOSUB1090
SR 1020 Y=32768:F0R T=0 TO 3:1
F R(T)<>V(8) THEN Y'Y+
9: NEXT
EB 1030 A=18321:GOSUB1090
HM 1040 Y=32768:FOR T=0 TO 3:1
F R(T)<>V(5) THEN Y=y+
9: NEXT
MR 1050 A=18264:FOR T=Y TO y+7
iFOR U=0 TO 2:P0KE A,P
EEK(T) :A=A+1:NEXT U : NE
XT T
AS 1060 Y=32768;F0R T=0 TO 3:1
F R(T)<>V(6) THEN Y=Y+
9: NEXT
AP 1070 A=18288:FOR T=Y TO Y+7
:F0R U=0 TO 2:P0KE A,P
EEK(T) :A=A+1:NEXT U:NE
XT T

G-30 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

ER 920

950
960

1080

1090

1100

1110

1120

1130

CF 1140

XM 1150

1160

1170

1180

1190

HF 1200

RETURN

FOR T=Y TO Y+9:P0KE A,

PEEK(T) :A=A+1: NEXT: RET

URN

REM{2 SPACES}* SAVE *

GOSUB 940:INPUT"{CLR}

{WHT} {DOWN} SHOULD DEMO

BOOT ANOTHER FILE? Y
{3 LEFT}";A$
IF A$="N" THEN POKE 18
985,2:GOTO 1200

print"(clr} (2 down}"b$
"{yel}enter the name 0
f file to boot"
print" (type '*' at end

OF NAME) {H0ME}":P0KE1
080, 45 :LE= 15: GOSUB 520
FOR Y=1064 TO 1079:A=Y
+17922:V=PEEK(Y) :IF V
{SPACE} > 0 AND V < 27
{SPACEJtHEN V=V+64
POKE A,V: NEXT: PRINT
INPUT"{4 DOWN}{CYN}ENT
ER SYS (RETURN=BASIC) "
fSY

IF SY=0 THEN P0KE18985
,1:G0T0 1200
POKE 18985, 0:H=INT (SY/
256) :L=SY-256*H:P0KE 1
9036,L:POKE 19037, H

input"{clr}{2 down}

{wht}filename of demo"

;f$

print" {2 down} {grn}sav

ING DEMO. . .";

OPEN2,8,2,"0:" + F$+"-,P,

PRINT#2, CHR$ (1) ;CKR$(

8);

FOR J=16252 TO 19064:P
RINT#2,CHR${PEEK(J) ) ;
IF ST > 0 THEN PRINT"
{SPACE}ERROR DURING SA
VE":PRINTi2:CLOSE2:END
NEXT:CL0SE2; PRINT" NO
{SPACE}ERRORS":END
DATA BLACK, WHITE-, RED, C
YAN, PURPLE , GREEN , BLUE ,
YELLOW

DATA ORANGE, BROWN, LT R
ED,DK GRAY, MED GRAY,LT
GREEN, LT BLUE , LT GRAY
DATA 0,1,11,0,5,1,2,6,
1,5

DATA 0,11,12,15,1,1,15
,12,11

DATA 0,9,2,8,10,10,8,2
,9

DATA 0,5,3,13,1,1,13,3
,5

DATA 0,6,14,3,1,1,3,14
,6

DATA 10,7,13,3,14,3,13
,7,10

Danny English is a frequent contributor
who lives in Moreno Valley, California.

1210

1220

1230

1240

1250

1260

1273

HA 1280

1290

1300

1310

1320

1330

1340

F/X PLOT 128

By Kevin Davis

At one time or another, any student of
mathematics has had to deal w/ith coor-
dinate plane graphing. Graphing calcu-
lators have been recognized by educa-
tors as helpful tools for understanding
graphs, but these calculators can cost
up to $300.

While programs such as Arbplot exist
for Apple and IBM computers, few are
available for 8-bit Commodores. F/X Plot
128 tries to change this. The program it-
self was designed using the popular Tl-
81 as a benchmark. It's a menu-driven, us-
er-friendly, colorful program designed to
make good use of the 1 28's high-resolu-
tion graphics in 40-colunnn mode.

Entering the Program

F/X Plot 128 consists of a main pro-
gram and a sprite. The main program
is written in BASIC 7,0 and should be
entered with The Automatic Proofread-
er to avoid typing errors. See "Typing
Aids" elsewhere in this section.

The sprite data used to create an on-
screen pointer or tracer is written in ma-
chine language. Enter it with MLX, our
machine language entry program. See
"Typing Aids" again. When MLX
prompts, respond with the following val-
ues.

Starting address; OEOO
Ending address: 0E3F

Be sure to save the program as F/X
PLOTSPR on the same disk as the
main program. The main program
loads this data when it runs.

When you first run F/X Plot, the top
of the screen will be jumbied. Clear the
screen from the Options menu, press
Run/Stop-Restore, and then run the pro-
gram again. This process is required on-
ly when you first run the program,

From then on, you'll see a screen di-
vided into quarters with a menu at the
bottom. The program is completely
menu driven. First, let's look at the Op-
tions menu. Press 4.

With this menu, you'il be presented
with five numbered options. Press the
number in front of the one you want.

Simultaneous/Sequence F/X Plot can
hold formulas for up to four graphs.

Simultaneous will graph all selected for-
mulas at the same time. Sequence
graphs them one at a time. Always se-
lect Sequence when you have only
one formula to graph. (Sequence is al-
so a little faster in this case.)

Enable/Disable Formulas You can

toggle here to enable or disable cer-
tain formulas. Only the enabled ones,
denoted by their numbers appearing in
reverse mode, will be graphed.

Clear Graphics Screen This will
clear the graphics screen and return
you to the Main menu.

Set Tracer Speed This option allows
you to set the speed at which the trac-
er moves. A smaller number will move
more slowly but will be more accurate.
Three is the default.

Connected/Dotted This works in a
fashion similar to the Enable/Disable tog-
gle. The formulas set to Connected
will draw a line between each plotted
point. Experimentation with the pro-
gram will give you an idea of when it's
a good idea to set formulas to Connect-
ed. Connected formulas are in reverse.

Use the Esc key to move from the Op-
tions screen to the Main menu. Here
are the Main menu options.

Set Range Set the X-Minimum (the
least X value graphed), X-Maximum
(the greatest x value graphed), Y-Min-
imum, and Y-Maximum. Defaults are -
10 to 10 on both axes. The resolution
(scaling) of the graph is determined by
the distance between the maximum
and minimum values. In other words, a
range of -1 to 1 will appear much clos-
er in (like a zoom lens) and have a high-
er resolution than -100 to 100. For trig-
onometric graphs, use plus or minus
3.14 as pi and plus or minus 6.28 as
two pi.

Tracer The Tracer requires a joystick
in port 2. When you choose this, you'll
see the range values and a gray de-
vice somewhat like cross hairs in the up-
per left corner of the screen. Its speed
is controlled from the Options menu.
You're shown the x-coordinate and y-
coordinate of the cross hairs as they

move around the screen. This option
can be helpful in evaluating certain
points along the graph.

In order to zoom into a section of the
graph, move to the upper left corner of
the rectangular section you want to
zoom into and press and release the
fire button. There will be a bell tone
and a brief pause. Then move the
cross hairs to the lower right corner
and do likewise. This process sets the
next range of values. Use the Esc key
to exit, select Clear from the Options
menu, and choose Graph from the
Main menu to proceed.

Graph This is the most important, and
easiest, function of F/X Plot. It graphs
the enabled functions on the screen.
Each function is graphed in its corre-
sponding color as shown in the Enable/
Disable menu. As each point is
graphed, its xand y values are printed
at the bottom of the screen. The coor-
dinates of the last five points graphed
are visible at the bottom of the screen.
To pause the graphing, use the No
Scroll key.

If the program attempts to graph a
value that BASIC cannot handle (such
as the point on an asymptote in a trig-
onometric function), a bell tone will
sound, and that point won't be
graphed. An error-trapping routine pre-
vents the program from stopping. It'll
just move on to the next value.

Plotting Functions

F/X Plot comes with four formulas al-
ready entered, but, naturally, you'll
want to enter your own. These are
stored as DEF DN statements in lines
60-90. The BASIC DEF FN command,
however, cannot be implemented from
program mode. In order to set or
change the formulas, you must exit the
program by pressing the Run/Stop-
Restore keys simultaneously. Type
LIST 60-90 and press Return.

Then use the cursor keys to edit
each line with the formula of your
choice for FN(A), FN(B), FN(C), and
FN(D). Remember to press Return after
entering your formulas. Then run the
program again.

All formulas must be entered using
BASIC'S normal mathematical com-
mands. These include SIN, COS, LOG,
TAN, ABS, and operators +, -, ", and /.

Anyone who has ever done any pro-
gramming should be familiar with
these operators and their use. New us-
ers may want to check the appendix
dealing with mathematical commands
in the 128 System Guide for the prop-
er format.

Helpful Hints

While the program can graph only four
functions at once, the graphics screen
isn't erased when you stop the pro-
gram. If you want to graph more than
four formulas, graph the first four, exit
the program, change the formulas, run
the program again, and graph the sec-
ond group. The graphs will overlap as
long as you make sure that the ranges
are the same.

Don't wait until the night before your
big geometry examination to learn how
to use F/X Plot 128! It's a powerful and
versatile program that can be utilized ful-
ly only by thorough use and repeated
experimentation.

While the theory is untested, I'd imag-
ine that any program that captures the
hi-res split screen and sends it to a print-
er could be used to make hardcopies
of any graphs you create.

F/X PLOT 128

RP 5 REM COPYRIGHT 1992 COMPUT
E PUBLICATIONS INTL LTD
{2 SPACES} ALL RIGHTS RESE
RVED
HX 10 CLR:XM=-10:XX=10:YM=-10:

YX=10:SP=3:EA=1:EB=1:EC=

1:ED-1:TRAP 1890
SA 20 DIMJA(8) :DIMJB(8) :F0RKQ=

1T08:READJA(KQ) :NEXT
RK 30 BL0AD("F/X PLOT.SPR")
PJ 40 FOR KQ=1T08:READJB(KQ) :N

EXT
MA 50 POKE53280,0:POKES3281,0
AQ 60 DEF FN A (X) =Xf2
PF 70 DEF FN B (X) =X+4
EJ 80 DEF FN C(X)=( (SIN(X)) )
QK 90 DEF FN D (X) = (-1* (SQR (X) )

)
MA 100 GRAPHIC 4,0
MM 110 REM DRAW ZEROS
KS 120 IF XM<B AND XX>0 THEN X

Z = l
RP 130 IF YH<0 AND YX>0 THEN Y

Z = l
RR 150 GOSUB 840
FR 160 SLEEP1:GOTO890
MB 200 GOSUB 770
CG 210 IF XZOl THEN 270
SM 220 REM DRAW X~ZERO
DG 230 AH=ABS (XM) :XL=AM/XR

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE G-31

PROGRAMS

240

250

260

270

280

290

300

310

320

330

340

350

360

370

380

390

400

410

420

430

440

450

460

470

430

490

500

510

520

530

54 0

550

560

570

530

590

600

610

620

630

640

650

660

670

630

690

XL=160*XL

COLOR 1,16

DRAW 1,XL,0 TO XL, 159

IP YZOl THEN 320

YQ=ABS (YH) : YU=YQ/YR

YL=160*YU: YL=160-YL

IF YL>160 OR YL<0 THEN

{SPACE} 32-0

COLOR2,16:DRAW1,0,YLTO1

59, YL

REM PLOT

XS=XR/160:YS=yR/160

UX=0:UY=0

FOR TT=0TO159

IF EA=0 THEN 460

XA = F^fA( (XM+ (TT*XS) ) )

PRINT" {CYN}X=" ( (XM+ (TT*

XS) ) )TAB(20) "Y="XA

IF XA>YX OR XA<YM THEN

{SPACE} 4 50

QP=YX-XA:FP=QP/YR:CP=16

0*FP

COLOR 1,4

DRAW 1,TT,CP

IF TT = 0 OR CAOl THEN45

DRAW1,TT,CP TO IA,PA:IA

=TT:PA=CP

IF SS=1 THEN NEXT TT

IF EB=0 THEN 570

IF SS=1 THEN UX=0:UY=0:

FOR TT=0 TO 159

XB=FNB{ (XM+ (TT*XS) ) )

PRINT" {GRN}X="( (XM+(TT*

XS)))TAB(20) "Y="XB

IF XB>YX OR XB<YM THEN

{SPACE) 560

QP=YX-XB:FP='QP/YR:CP = 16

0*FP

C0L0R1,6

DRAW 1,TT,CP

IF TT = 0 OR CBOl THENS6

DRflWl,TT,CP TO IB,PB:IB

=TT:PB=CP

IF SS=1 THEN NEXT TT

IF EC=0 THEN 660

IF SS=1 THEN UX=0:UY=0:

FORTT=0TO159

XC=FNC( (XH+(TT*XS) ) )

PRINT"(YEL}X=" ( (XM+(TT*

XS) ) ) TAB (20) "Y="XC

IF XOYX OR XC<YM THEN

{SPACE}650

QP=YX-XC:FP=QP/YR:CP=16

0*FP:COLORl,8:DRAWl,TT,

IF TT = 0 OR CCOl THEN65

DHAW1,TT,CP TO IC,PC:IC

=TT;PC=CP

IF SS=1 THEH NEXT TT

IF ED=0 THEN 740

IF SS=1 THEN UX=0:UY=0:

FORTT=0TO159

XD=FND( (XH+{TT*XS) ) )

PHINT"{3JX="( (XM+(TT*XS

)))TAB(2a)"Y="XD

FD 700 IF XD>YX OR XD<YH THEN

{SPACE)740
DF 710 QP=YX-XD:FP=QP/YR:CP=16

0*FP:COLORl,ll:DRAWl,TT

,CP
XB 720 IF TT = 0 OR CQOl THEN74

0
JC 730 DRAW1,TT,CP TO ID,PD:ID

=TT:PD=CP
AE 740 IF BA=1 OR EB=1 OR EC=1
OR ED=1 OR SS=0 THEN N

EXT TT
RP 750 IF EA=0 AND EB=0 AND EC

=0 AND ED=0 THEN 760
EJ 760 GOTO890
BC 770 IF XX<=0 AND XM<=0 THEN

XR=ABS (XM) -ABS{XX)
BF 780 IF XX>0 AND XM<0 THEN X

R=ABS (XM)+ABS(XX)
HG 790 IF XH>0 THEN XR=XX-XM
AM 800 IF YX<=0 AND YM<=0 THEN

YR-ABS(YM)-RBS (YX)
HR 810 IF YX>0 AND YM<0 THEN Y

R=ABS(YM) +ABS (YX)
AD 820 IF YM>0 THEN YR=YX-YM
GP 830 RETURN
FP 840 REM PIC

FE 850 PRINT'MCLR} {20 DOWN)";
XP 860 PRINT"{YEL)<40 @>"
DJ 870 PRINT"{YELH16 @}{3}F

{CYN}/-{7>X -f6>PL0T{YEL)

{16 ?}"
CX 880 RETURN
BD 890 GOSUB840: PRINT" {6}

{RVS}{H>1{N}{0FF} SET R

ANGE VALS{2 SPACES}

{RVS){H}2<N>{0FF} USE T

RACER"
AH 900 PRINT" {RVS}{H>3{N}

{OFF} GRAPH FUNCTION

{2 SPACES} {RVS}<H>4{N}

{OFF} OPTIONS"
DB 910 GETKEY GK$ : GK=VAL (GKS) :

IF GK>4 OR GK<1 THEN 91

0
RG 920 ON GK GOTO 930,1450,170

,990
PG 930 REM SET VALUES
MX 940 INPUT" {CLR} {20 DOWN}X-M

INIMDM {XHIN]";XM
KB 950 INPUT"X-MAXIHUM [XMAXJ "

;XX
MD 960 INPUT"Y-MINIMDM [YMIN} "

;YM
OG 970 INPUT"Y-MAXIMUM [YMAX] "

;yx

gm 980 print"{clr}":goto890
pd 990 rem options menu

MJ 1000 PRINT"{CLR}{19 DOWN)

{8 SPACES){7>

{20 SPACES}"
QP 1010 PRINT"{RVSHHH{N}

{OFF} SIMULTANEOUS/SEQ

UENCE{3 SPACES){3}0PTI

0NS{7r'
XH 1020 PRINT"{RVSKH>2{N}

{OFF) ENABLE/DISABLE F

0RMULAS{3 SPACES ){3}ME

NU'{7}{2 SPACES)"
HX 1030 PRINT"{RVS}{H}3<N}'

{OFF} CLEAR GRAPHIC SC

REEN"
EF 1040 PRINT"{RVS}{H}4{N}

{OFF} SET TRACER SPEED

GH 1050 PRINT"{RVS}-tHH{N}

(OFF) CONNECT /DOTTED";
XX 1060 GETKEY GK$: IFGKS'CHRS (

27) THEN 890
PK 1070 GK=VAL(GK$) :IF GK>50RG

K<1THEN1060
BS 1080 ON GK GOTO 1090,1160,1

370,1400,1690
RB 1090 PRINT" {CLR} {20 DOWN}

{GRN}1] SEQUENCE (GRAP

HED IN ORDER) "
PR 1100 PRINT"2] SIMULTANEOUS

{SPACE} (GRAPHED AT SAM

E TIME) "
SS 1110 GETKEY GKS : GK=VAL (GKS )

:IFGK=1THENSS=1
GQ 1120 IF GK=2 THEN SS=0
CF 1130 IF GKS=CHR$(27) THEN 8

90
FP 1140 IF SS<0ORSS>1THEN1110
HM 1150 GOTO890
MR 1160 PRINT" {CLR} {20 DOWN}

{IJPRESS FORMULA TO EN

ABLE (HI-LIGHTED)"

JS 1170 PRINT"OR DISABLE.

{RVS)RETURN{OFF) EXITS
II

KH 1180 IF EA=1THENPRINT"{7>

{RVS)<Gn'CN}{OFF}"; :G0

TO1200
JA 1190 IF EAOl THEN PRINT"

{7 J 1 ";
EX 1200 IF EB=1THENPRINT"{GRN)

{RVS}{H>2<N}{0FF}"; :G0

TO1220
PP 1210 IF EBOl THEN PRINT"

(GRN) 2 ";
RS 1220 IF EC=1THENPRINT"{YEL)

{RVS}{H}3-tNH0FF}"; :G0

TO1240
KH 1230 IF ECOl THEN PRINT"

{YEL} 3 ";
PQ 1240 IF ED = 1THENPRINT">{3}

{RVS}-(H}4{N>{0FF}"; :G0

TO1260
CQ 1250 IF EDOl THEN PRINT"

{3J 4 ";
QX 1260 GETKEY CDS: IFCD$=CHR$ (

13)THEN890
JR 1270 CD=VAL(CDS) :IFCD>40RCD

<1THEN1260
BB 1280 IF CD=1 AND EA=0 THEN

{SPACE}EA=1:GOTO1300
EP 1290 IF CD=1 AND EA=1 THEN

{SPACE}EA=0
BG 1300 IF CD=2 AND EB=0 THEN

{SPACE)EB=1:GOTO13 20
KE 1310 IF CD=2 AND EB=1 THEN

{SPACE}EB=0
SB 1320 IF CD=3 AND EC=0 THEN

{SPACE}EC=l:G0T0134a

6-32 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

DA 1330 IF CD=3 AND EC=1 THEN

{SPACE?EC=0
PJ 1340 IF CD=4 AND ED=0 THEN

{ SPACE }ED = 1: GOTO 13 60
RX 1350 IF CD=4 AND ED=I THEN

{SPACE}ED=0
JS 1360 PRINT"{UP}":GOTO 1180
FP 1370 PRINT"{CLR}{22 DOWN}

{WHTlCLEAR SCREEN: ARE
YOU SURE?"
SC 1380 GETKEY YN$:IF YN$="Y"T

HENGRAPHIC4,1
GM 1390 GOTO 890
CG 1400 PRINT'MCLR}{21 DOWN}

(PUR}"
CM 1410 PRINT"CURRENT SPEED:

!WHT}"SP:PRINT"{PUR}EN
TER NEW VALUE [1-5] "
CD 1420 GETKEY SPStIF SPS=CHR$

(27)THEN890
KH 1430 SP=VAL(SPS):IF SP<10RS

P>5THEN1420
RQ 1440 GOTO890
PR 1450 REM TARGET-SCAN
EC 1460 ZX=XM:ZY=YX
DM 1470 PX'17:PY=-209:PN=0
SX 1480 PRINT"{CLR}{33 DOWN}"
FK 1490 PRINT" {YEL}X-MIN:"XM""
TAB (20) "X-MAX: "XX:PRIN
T"Y-MIN:"YM""TAB(20) "Y
-MAX:"YX
HE 1500 SPRITEl, 1,2,0
RK 1510 M0VSPR1,PX,PY
KD 1520 GOSUB770
BC 1530 XS=XR/i60:YS=YR/160
PQ 1540 JS=0:JS=JOY(2)
DH 1550 IF JS>128 THEN1540
XP 1560 IF JS=12B THEN 1660
PM 1570 PX = PX+(JA{JS) *SP) :PY'=P

Y+ (JB(JS)*SP)
KD 1580 M0VSPR1,PX,PY
GD 1590 ZX=XM+(.5*{ (PX-17)*XS)

) :ZY=YX-( (PY+209)*YS)
CM 1600 PRINT"{6HH0ME}

{21 DOWN}X="ZX""TAB(20
)"Y=" (ZY)
KF 1610 GETX$:IFXS=CHR5(27)THE

NGOTO1630
QB 1620 JS=0:GOTO1540
GJ 1630 SPRITEl, 0
CP 1640 GOTO890
MD 1650 DATA 0,1,1,1,0,-1,-1,-

1,-1,-1,0,1,1,1,0,-1
FQ 1660 PN=PN+1:IF PN=1 THEN A
X=ZX;AY=ZY: PRINT CHR$ (
7) :SLEEPl:GOTO1540
AA 1670 IF PN=2 THEN BX=ZX:BY=
ZY:PRINT CHR$(7) :XM=AX
: XX=BX : YX=AY : YM=BY : GOT
01540
FQ 1680 GOTO1540
CS 1690 PRINT"{CLR} {20 DOWN}
{PUR} SELECT DOTTED OR
{SPACE}CONNECTED /
{RVS}RETURN{OFF}"
DD 1700 IF CA=1THENPRINT"<7}

{RVS}{HmN}{OFF}";:GO
TO1720

QD 1710 IF CAOl THEN PRINT"

11} 1 ";

GX 1720 IF CB=1THENPRINT"{GRN}

{RVS}{H>2-£N}{OFF}";:G0

TO1740
HP 1730 IF CBOl THEN PRINT"

{GRN} 2 ";
KS 1740 IF CC=1THENPRINT"{VEL)

{RVS}<H}-3<NJ{0FF}";:G0

TO1760
BE 1750 IF CCOl THEN PRINT"

{YEL} 3 ";
HF 1760 IF CQ=1THENPRINT"<3}

{RVS}'CH>4<N}{0FF}";:G0

TO17a0
XH 1770 IF CQOl THEN PRINT"

<3} 4 ";
FG 1780 GETKEY SQS : IFSQ$=CHR$ C

13)THENe90
HC 1790 SQ=VAL(SQ5) :IFSQ>40RSQ

<1THEN1780
MG 1800 IF SQ=1 AND CA=0 THEN

{ SPACE }CA=1: GOTO 18 20
FD 1810 IF SQ=1 AND CA=1 THEN

{SPACE}CA=0
XB 1820 IF SQ=2 AND CB=0 THEN

{SPACE}CB=1:GOTO1840
DS 1830 IF SQ=2 AND CB=1 THEN

{SPACE}CB=0
AK 1840 IF SQ=3 AND CC=0 THEN

{SPACE}CC=1:GOTO1860
JF 1850 IF SQ=3 AND CC=1 THEN

[SPACE}CC=0
JC 1860 IF SQ=4 AND CQ=0 THEN

{SPACE}CQ=1:GOTO1880
GG 1870 IF SQ=4 AND CQ=1 THEN

{SPACE}CQ=0
AR 1880 PRINT"{UP}":GOTO 1700
ER 1890 REM ERROR TRAP ROUTINE
XA 1900 IF ER=11 OR ER=14 OR E

R=20 OR ER=10 OR ER=15
THEN PRINT"{G}"; :RESU

ME NEXT
HH 1910 PRINT"PROGRAMMING ERRO

r:"

AC 1920 PRINT"{RVS}"; :PRINTERR

S (ER) ; :PRINT"{OPF}"
AX 1930 PRINT"<8}IN LINE"EL
CK 1940 END

F/X PLOT.SPR

SPRINT III

0E00:02 00 00 0A 80 00 28 A0 B2

0E08:00 A0 28 00 28 A0 00 0A IF

0E10:80 00 02 00 00 00 00 00 AC

0G18:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 34

0E20:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 3C

0E28:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 44

0E30:00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 4C

0K38:0O 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 54

Kevin Davis is tlie author of Sport
Card Collector (November 1991). F/X
Plot 128 helped him survive honors ge-
ometry this year at Trinity Preparatory
School in Winter Park, Florida.

By Farid Ahmad

Commodore BASIC isn't exactly known
for its speed. It's not the language itseif
that's at fault, however; it's the way the
computer implements the language. BA-
SIC is interpreted. Most faster languages
are compiled.

Before a computer can execute any
program, the commands must be con-
verted into the machine language of the
computer. Every time a statement in an in-
terpreted language is run, the computer
must translate it. This slows execution con-
siderably. A compiler, however, trans-
lates the entire program before it runs.
This boosts execution speed-
Sprint III is a BASIC compiler that sup-
ports a subset of BASIC statements avail-
able to the 64. Earlier versions of the pro-
gram were published in January 1986
and January 1988. Sprint II added sever-
al features to its original version, but
there was still room for improvement.

Entering the Program

Sprint 111 is written entirely in machine
language. To enter it, use MLX, our ma-
chine language entry program. See
"Typing Aids" elsewtiere in this sec-
tion. When MLX prompts, respond
with the following values.

Starting address: 0801
Ending address: 1D40

Be sure to save a copy of Sprint III be-
fore exiting MLX.

Using the Program

A typical session with Sphnt 111 might
start with the following commands.

LOAD "Sprint lll",8,1

NEW

SYS32768

At this point your screen will turn
black and BASIC pointers will be adjust-
ed. You'll also see a SYNTAX ERROR
message, which you should ignore,
and a READY prompt. Now you can
load a BASIC program or start to write
one from scratch. You may run your pro-
gram at any time for testing, When you
are ready to compile it. use either the
SYS32768,E or SYS32768.F command.
These and other Sprint III commands

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE G-33

PROGRAMS

are explained below. When the compila-
tion finishes, you can run your com-
piled program or save it as usual.

If you want to make some correc-
tions or modifications to your program,
use the SYS32768,L command to load
your BASIC program from the RAM
disk. After it's edited, the program can
be compiled as before.

Commands

All Sprint III commands consist of a
SYS statement followed by a comma
and a single letter. The following com-
mands are available.

SYS32768,F Saves the BASIC pro-
gram to the RAIVI disk and then com-
piles it. The entire source program is
listed during compilation. It also locks
the RAK/I disk.

SYS32768,E Same as above except
that Sprint lists only lines containing an
error.

SYS32768,L Loads your source pro-
gram after a compile operation. Un-
locks the RAfvl disk.

SYS32768,U Unlocks the RAM disk.

A Better Way

One of the advantages of using Sprint
II was speed. You could save the
source code on disk; run Sprint II; and
get a compiled program in memory,
ready to run. However, if you wanted to
make corrections or modifications to
your program, you had to load the
source code, modify it, save it back to
disk, and compile again. Since a pro-
gram almost never works perfectly with-
out a debugging session, this proce-
dure soon became tedious.

There's a better way, Sprint III turns
Sprint into a RAM-based compiler.
Now, when you compile your program,
the source code is saved to a RAM
disk and is compiled from there. When
compilation is finished, you have two
versions of your program in memory:
the compiled program in the normal BA-
SIC working area and the source pro-
gram in the RAfyi disk.

Suppose Sprint III has reported
some errors during compilation or you
simply want to make some modifica-
tions. You issue the load command to

e-34 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

the RAM disk, and within seconds,
your BASIC source program is back,
ready for editing and recompiling.

Speed

Apart from the convenience of not hav-
ing to save and load repeatedly.
Sprint III also reduces compilation
time by more than half. For even faster
compiling, you're given the option of list-
ing the entire BASIC program during
compilation or listing only those lines
that contain an error. If you choose the
error-only option, time for compiling is
reduced to less than one-fourth that of
Sprint II.

Other Options

A list pause has been provided. When
a BASIC program is being listed to the
screen during compilation, hold down
any control key to freeze the display.
This is useful for writing down any er-
rors reported by Sprint III.

One potential mistake that can oc-
cur when using Sprint III is the one of
accidentally compiling a program
that's already compiled. Suppose that
you want to load the source program,
but give the compile command by mis-
take. The BASIC program in the RAM
disk would be overwritten by the com-
piled program, and you'd lose your
source code. To prevent this, the RAM
disk is automatically locked after each
compilation. This prevents you from us-
ing the compile command. It'll be un-
locked automatically when you load
your source program, or you can use
the unlock command if you wish to
start a new program.

Expressions

Sprint III works much the same as BA-
SIC, but as with Sprint II there are
some differences you should keep in
mind when programming.

Strings are limited to ten characters
unless specified otherwise. If you
want to include more characters, dimen-
sion the string as if it were an array.

In numeric expressions, parenthe-
ses aren't allowed. Unlike interpreted
BASIC, expressions are evaluated strict-
ly from left to right; there's no operator
precedence. To get around this, you
must break up the expression into sev-
eral smaller expressions and then put
the results back together. For example,

the following expression:
SUM = A + X*Y + B + l*J

becomes

01 = X*Y: Q2 = I* J:
SUM = A +QUB+Q2.

You may get a NOT SUPPORTED error
message if the statement is legal in
Commodore BASIC but illegal in
Sprint III. You may get a SYNTAX ER-
ROR message if a keyword is mis-
spelled or extra parentheses are
used.

Memory Organization

Memory locations $AO00-$C7FF and
SEOOO-SFFFF are used by the RAM
disk. Since this is an 18K area of mem-
ory, the BASIC program must fit within
this length. You'll be warned if you ex-
ceed this limit. A full 30K. however, is
available for the compiled program. Al-
so, if you run your BASIC source pro-
gram for testing, a full 30K of working
area is available for strings, variables,
and so on. It's only the BASIC program
text that shouldn't exceed 18K.

Sprint III is designed to stay resident
in memory while you edit your BASIC
programs. Therefore, it moves down
the top of the BASIC area pointer to pro-
tect itself. To set this pointer, you can
either use a Sprint III command before
running a BASIC program or use
SYS32768 without a letter. The second
method will produce a SYNTAX ER-
ROR message, but the pointer will be
adjusted. Also, when the pointer is set,
the list pause will become available for
BASIC editing.

Updates from Sprint II

Programmers who may have disassem-
bled Sprint II may be interested in the
following changes.

The address $8000 now jumps to
$ABOO where the new routines reside.
The interface routine sets some point-
ers and also the colors. It then looks for
a comma followed by a letter. If a val-
id command is found, the appropriate
routines are called to move programs
to or from the RAM disk.

In Sprint II, addresses $825E and
$80A2 called a subroutine to initialize
the disk file. They now call a new short

routine at $8028 which initializes the
new input from the RAM disk routine.

The area $8C0D-$8C45 contained
calls to a Kernal routine to get a byte
from disk. These calls have been
changed so that the new input from
the RAM disk routine is called at
$8815.

The instruction at $C800 has been
changed from LDA#$CO to LDA#$C8.
As a result, Sprint now uses the memo-
ry area $C800 onward for line number
storage,

When the E command is used, the
JSRSBAAC instruction at $82B6 ad-
dress is bypassed, preventing each
line from being listed. Also the instruc-
tion at $8A85 is changed from
JSR$888C to JSR$8850. Address
$8850 contains a short routine to print
the current line.

When Sprint 111 is used for the first
time, it places the list freeze subroutine
at $CFEC-$CFFF. I use Sprint III with a
multifunction cartridge that causes prob-
lems if the freeze routine is placed be-
tween $8000 and SAOOO.

SPRINT III

0801:

0809:
0811:
0819:
0821:
0829:
0831:
0839:
0841:
0 849;
0851;
0859;
0861;
0869;
0871;
0879;
0381;
0889;
0891;
0899;
08Al!
08A9;
08B1:
08B9:
08C1:
08C9;
08D1;
08D9:
08E1;
08E9I
08F1:
08F9;
0901:
0909:

0B 08 70
37 00 00
20 20 20
3C 08 99
99 33 03
B9 0C 08
F7 A9 Dl
2E 4C 00
24 B8 IB
07 C8 D0
05 01 C6
20 34 03
16 A2 01
A2 04 20
10 05 A2
A8 A5 A7
F7 AS FF
A5 F8 85
E8 20 34
20 34 03
A6 18 A5
A5 FD 65
03 4C 13
D0 IC A0
34 03 F0
03 4C 5C
03 E6 A7
34 03 00
18 69 04
34 03 00
03 18 69
20 34 03
A7 A4 FB
26 A7 C6

17 9E

00 20
20 20
F8 00
88 D0
99 FF
85 2D

01 16
B9 6E
F7 EE
F9 D0
F0 33
20 34
34 03
0A 20
85 A9
85 F8
FF AS
03 D0
A0 02
FC 65
A7 85
01 E8
03 84
08 A2
01 A2
4C 5C
0A E8
A8 D0
0A A2
06 D0
D0 E6
F0 0C
FB CA

32 34
20 20
A0 C4
B9 FD
Fl A0
03 88
A9 24
60 06
09 99

02 01
ED A2
C9 07

03 D0
18 69
34 03
A5 FE
20 60
F7 85
IE A2
34 A8
A6 85
F8 20
20 34
A8 E8
03 20

00 20

01 E8
20 34
D6 E8

02 20
ED A2
A9 00
06 FA
D0 F2

30 6E
20 96
B9 06

08 F6

09 4C
D0 Al
85 18
Dl 93
E8 44
EE 19
03 23
00 95
0A A0

07 65
85 ID
85 FB
03 73
FE 72

08 21
85 2A
F7 58
6C EF
03 FB
20 36
34 F4
34 C7
20 AF
03 82
20 37
34 21
08 A2
85 F7
2A 37
A8 08

0911;
0919:
0921;
0929;
0931:
0939;
0941:
0949;
0951;
0959;
0961;
0969;
0971
0979
0981
0989
0991
0999
09A1
09A9
09B1
09B9
09Ci
09C9
09D1
0909
09E1
09E9
09F1
09F9
0A01
0A09
0A11
0A19
0A21
0A29
0A31
0A39
0A41
0A49
0A51
0A59
0A61
0A69
0A71
0A79
0A81
0Aa9
0A91
0A99
0AA1
0AA9
0AB1
0AB9
0AC1
0AC9
0AD1
0AD9
0AE1
0AE9
0AF1
0AF9
0B01
0B09
0B11
0B19
0B21
0B29
0B31
0B39

60 43

8 5 FB
FF C6
FF 00
01 58
22 A5
C6 F8
A8 B0
F7 88
A9 F0
FS C6
01 4C
9A EA

09 E3
FE 85
34 7C
SD 32
60 A9
60 AD
eA 88
34 3B
A9 EE
70 3C
C9 97
E9 A9
8B FA
FF 70
3B 12

;fil 20

;A5 17

; 34 B3

;38 E0

:C0 00

;D3 86

;C9 83

;0C E6

;69 01

:CB 70

:E0 09

;74 68

;60 B9

;66 0E

;42 OC

;84 22

;C9 8F

I 38 9F

;20 F4

:0F 49

:05 IE

;72 60

;E9 00

:B0 01

;F5 B0

:37 A5

;8C 97

;10 A8

:95 08

:17 A2

:89 A9

A5 IF

80 21

01 F2

A4 02

00 60

06 38

19 A5

85 80

80 3E

Bl FE 85
68 A4 FE
FE Ca E7
07 D0 D8
4C 00 80
F7 38 E5
38 85 F7

02 C6 FD
91 FC 98
0A Bl F7
A9 10 EC
16 08 60
9D C6 3A
27 A9 81
42 19 43
4C 4F 55
88 A9 A0
38 8D 51
3A 00 E4
4C 57 CF

84 F7 A9
E0 85 83
0B 2A IC
50 44 02
FF 85 F9

85 07 82

94 AF 80
38 A9 08
76 81 85
2A E6 17
40 38 67
C9 0C 38

03 04 7A
2B 05 86

00 5C 58

4 4 5C 20
E7 06 4F
C6 0C 3C
60 A6 34
6C 4F E2

01 04 06
0E 4E 70
35 43 22
26 6F CE

95 11 D2
01 IF 00
81 87 4F
CE 0F 31
OE 08 0C
0C 85 F9
85 FA F7
98 90 E8
03 67 BE
80 4B B0
07 A0 02

06 60 8E
A6 0A C9
37 D0 Fl
30 la C8
60 D0 60
42 60 A9
94 91 74
A2 E0 30
69 lA A5
B8 09 03
E6 3A F2
E5 19 17

07 E5 lA
01 81 80

08 A9 04

FA A9
00 02
00 DE
A9 37
A4 AS
A8 B0
AS FC

85 FC
00 F8
C6 FD
60 78
00 4C
A9 3A
CA 12

06 C0
CF CI
80 33
EE BE
E0 99

86 E3
08 85
92 B9
BB 82
C9 05

87 D3
31 2E
18 85
85 39

07 30
E6 54
16 38
9C 5E

80 01
82 25
OF 44
E3 0B
62 0C
C0 4E
D0 12
66 0F
10 F2
06 F7

21 09

81 50

08 25

02 B0
40 06
9A 43
72 12
AD 26
00 6 A
44 68
81 07
F0 12
E0 6A
29 31

22 CI
84 70
8A 91
66 21
0A 60
91 28
0E 4 4
13 85
06 2D

03 D0
20 46
18 85
3D 08
Dl F9

08 FE
C6 4A

A4 B5
8 5 BA

F0
03

3C
7E

E5 8A
Bl 3A
C4 42
C6 76
E6 98
00 ED
69 02
A9 8D
44 89
13 D8
88 CC
E5 6F
EE 63
3A AC
F8 2E
11 BB
48 3C
90 68
A9 DA
80 54
IF 6F
EC 7B
82 EE
18 6D
A5 51
39 95

04
IF

02
16

00 76
4 0 9A
42 F5
46 B0
AC BA
31 84
30 F0
85 DB
8C E6
62 83
40 60

4 7 OA
C0 03
10 D9
F9 54
FA A6
C8 68
16 6C
F4 C2
06 F2
8B E0
73 37

05 87
00 98

06
10

IC
35
60

2F 73
0C 24
81 AD
AS B8
85 El
2D DO
53 41
2B C7

0B41:
0B49:

0B51:

0B59:

0B61:

0B69:

0B71:

0B79:

0381:

0B39:

0691:

0B99:

0BA1:

0BA9:

0BB1:

0BB9:

0BC 1 :

0BC9:

0BD1:

0BD9:

0BE1:

0BE9:

0BFlt

0BF9:

0C01:

0C09:

0C11:

0C19:

0C21:

0C29:

0C31:

0C39:

0C41

0C4 9

0C51

0C59

0C61

0C69

0C71

0C79

0C81

0C89

0C91

0C99

0CA1

0CA9

0CB1

0CB9

0CC1

0CC9

0CD1

0CD9

0CE1

0CE9

0CF1

0CF9

0D01

0009

0D11

0019

0D21

0D29

0D31

0D39

0D41

0D49

0DS1

0D59

0061

0069

02 04

34 01

80 20 10
4C 00 4A
70 08 11
40 01 2C
E6 EC 2D
94 15 60
E0 13 41
00 DE F0
A9 09 88
AA A9 A7
C8 BO DC
A2 07 D0

86 05 0E
85 CF 83
88 D0 84

87 E0 B8
20 7C 34
11 F7 90
06 55 C5
82 F7 40
3C 13 19
02 28 80
96 19 A3
05 56 F3
40 08 A9
C0 FD 3D
02 2D 32
08 A5 FA
A0 A5 2E
80 04 F7
C6 2E 00
30 18 4C

33
2C
B9 C0 05
90 84 Dl
A9 B2 7C
C2 AS 33
2F 0C 47
8D D0 0F
8A C2 9D
61 50 70
28 11 IC
A5 FD 2E
F8 8B A5
65 13 02
CI 90 08
E0 40 D0
AB 4C 43
02 41 9E
:F5 OC 84
02 10 AS
:0C A9 89
:D0 F6 88
;4C 2C 27
: 0F F0 01
;6S 2A A9
;41 18 13
:F0 IC 95
:2A FA 71
:58 6D 2A
;4E 42 57
;04 35 19
!F7 58 4E
;43 A5 14
:C8 Bl 05
;07 A5 02
;B8 41 0E
:17 B0 12
:S8 4E 00

3C E0 00 0C BE 48
25 AC 52 lA 10 14

72 03 F7 72 08 F7
AS 2C E0 ED 2C 9C
36 71 45 C7 86 E5

92 16 3A 83 C0 A5
60 14 IE 11 85 AB
A9 E0 12 90 05 DO
Fl 15 00 8A 0A A6
A9 Bl 01 0D 00 78
32 80 D5 33 60 61
E3 F0 7E 86 F9 F3
5E 85 C2 83 AE 00
CD 34 8F 84 07 36
49 85 C9 83 C2 82
E0 45 37 4E 85 5B
09 94 CI A6 F8 10

73 lA C5 18 D0 98
17 B0 33 41 C0 FF

08 F3 72 08 32 SB
85 14 C7 0A A0 CA
60 El A5 19 A5 9E
1ft 4C 0E 83 A9 FA
0F 20 CC 8A 01 El
lA BA FF A2 7F AC
95 00 2A 7F 10 B9
2E A5 F9 8D IB E9
8D IF 08 6C 02 CA
F0 12 6E 3D B2 3F
0C 01 6C 02 13 13
EA 5C 60 17 El 75

13 00 Fl 18 69 8B
4D C0 8E 60 48 80
90 DA 18 60 B6 F8
68 68 27 5D 08 40
0F 2C 00 85 FD 70

09 01 13 3C F0 EC
48 BE FD 43 CC 78
40 EB 27 04 A9 A6
B6 50 43 31 22 02
85 40 4F A7 05 2F
9C 08 39 2A EA A2
AS 40 5E BE 09 El
FC E2 7E 68 31 AC
3F F0 CS ft9 BD 71
02 8E 58 Ee El 60
C3 90 08 23 ID 09
15 4C 14 C6 13 11
84 E6 2E 93 4E 83
DC E8 E0 09 D0 82
40 58 18 F7 26 E9
81 A9 A7 32 C8 90
7B CO 0E B9 06 73
04 60 92 69 A9 43
52 08 BC CC 46 58

93 83 B0 53 C9 7B
C0 85 2B 58 57 7A
Ce 14 08 C5 14 19

10 13 69 02 as 4E
2B A5 2B C5 39 86
C5 38 90 OA C2 E0
Dl ID 19 38 E9 AA
B0 02 C6 lA A5 El

90 FB 43 90 13 41

91 19 50 16 C4 FC
A3 30 3E 03 00 60
75 2E A9 60 50 19
36 84 Al 10 C7 Fl
12 20 6F CE 3B 2E

14 3C 27 40 8E 12

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE G-35

PROGRAMS

0071

0FA1

llDl;

0D79

0FA9

11D9:

0D81

0FB1

llEl-

0D89

0FB9

11E9:

0091

0FC1

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G-36 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

1401:

1631:

1861:

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1639:

1869:

1411:

1641;

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1419:

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JUNE 1992 COMPUTE G-37

PROGRAMS

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9F 50 07
4B 01 07
4 5 40 0B
50 2E 4A
DO 49 09
3C 20 7A

53 49 93
49 40 4A

54 48 BB

55 50 OB
46 52 41
67 4E 27
59 20 28
41 48 23
70 01 06
00 00 4 6

Farid Ahmad programs his 64 in Is-
lamabad. Pakistan.

PAD DESIGN

By Robert C. Marcus
Impedance matching is an important con-
cept in radio and electronics work. To get
the maximum power from your ham radio
to your antenna, for example, you'll have
to match the impedance of your antenna
to the impedance of your transmitter.

If you want a filter to pass a desired
band of frequencies, you'll have to make
sure the input and output impedances of
the filter match those of your input and out-
put circuits.

If you want to get the most power out
of a stereo speaker, then the speaker im-
pedance must match the output imped-
ance of your amplifier.

If you're a ham radio operator or an
electronics hobbyist, these are just a few
of the times when you might find it nec-
essary to design an attenuator rietwork,
or what's generally referred to as a pad.

Whether you want to insert additional
attenuation or merely match impedanc-
es, the math that's involved can be intim-
idating. That's where Pad Design can
help. It does all the number crunching
necessary to calculate the resistive ele-
ments necessary to meet the design re-
quirements that you specify.

The program is set up to deal with un-
balanced T and Pi networks, but it can al-
so deal with balanced H and 0 networks.
The minimum-loss pad for impedance
matching is included as well.

In many applications, it's possible to
use commercial standard-value resistors.
Their low cost and availability are trade-
offs for a slight compromise in the atten-
uation and impedances being matched.

The advantage of using Pad Design is
that it lets you try out various standard val-
ues to produce a networl< that is closest
to the design criteria.

Pad Design is written entirely in BA-
SIC. To help avoid typing errors, enter it
with The Automatic Proofreader. See "Typ-
ing Aids" elsewhere in this section.

Using the Program

When the program is run, you can
choose the type of network to be
used: T H, Pi, O, or MIN-LOSS. Pad De-
sign then prompts for the input and out-
put impedances that will be used, and
if the network is a T/H or Pi/0, the in-
sertion loss in decibels is asked for.
The program then displays the network
and gives the values required for the re-
sistive arms.

At this point you may select to end
the program, return to the menu, or
changes resistors to obtain the best
choice of standard values.

If you decide to make changes to
the resistors, you'll be prompted for
new values. The program limits the de-
viation of value to plus or minus 20 per-
cent of the actual design value; this is
more than adequate when you are us-
ing standard resistors whose values
may vary by 10 percent. For more pre-
cise values, 5- or 1-percent resistors
would be items of choice. If the origi-
nal design value is to be retained for a
particular resistor, just press Return.

After you make your changes, the
network is displayed again. This time it
lists two sets of impedances. The first
gives the value of Zl, which results
from the new R values when ZO termi-
nates in the originally specified imped-
ance, The second value gives ZO as it
appears when Zl terminates in its spec-
ified impedance. The insertion loss —
calculated with the existing changes —
is displayed as well.

Balanced Networks

When dealing with balanced networks,
remember that the value of the series
arm or arms is halved. Since the values
given and entered are on a single-unit
basis, you'll have to multiply by two
when choosing standard values.

Decimal Places

The calculated values for resistors and
impedances are rounded off at two dec-

G-38 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

imal places for values below 1 ohm
and one decimal place for values be-
tween 1 and 1000 ohms. Attenuation
values are rounded off at two decimal
places.

Should you wish to set your own val-
ues for resistors and impedances, you
can alter the multiplier. The multiplier is
the function FNPrv!(x), which is defined
in line 1 10. It is, in effect, powers of 10
used with the INT() function to set the
number of decimal places, such as
INT(FNPM(n)*n+.5)/FNPM(n) where n
is a floating point number.

The function can be interpreted as
FNPM(x)=10'^(BASE-(x<LL+(x>HL)).

Base is the number of places that
are to be rounded: 1 sets one decimal
place, 2 sets two decimal places, and
so on. LL is the lower limit. Below this
value the number of places increases
by one over the base number. HL is
the high limit at which the number of
places decreases by one from the
base.

To sum up our application, there's
one decimal place (base) between 1
(LL) and 1000 (HL), there are two deci-
mal places below 1, and there are no
decimal places for 1000 and over.

Programmers using this method for
rounding off floating point numbers
should note that making the base a
negative number produces rounding to
tenths, hundredths, and so on.

PAD DESIGN

BA 10 REM COPYRIGHT 1992 COMPU
TE PUBLICATIONS INTL LTD

- ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
KQ 100 REM ***{2 SPACES3lNITia

LIZE{2 SPACES}***
PB 110 HD$="{RVS3 {10 SPACES}PA

D DESIGNO SPACES)":DEF

FNPM(X)=10| (1-{X<1)+(X>

1000))
CM 120 CC5(1)=" ";CC$(2)="

{CYNjRESULTS WITH NEW '

R' VALUES{7>"
DP 130 LOS (1) -"INSERTION LOSS"

:L0$ (2) ="MINIMUM-r.OSS"
FE 14 0 AN$(1)="T OR H ":AN$(2)

= "]_ OR 0 ":AN5(3)="MIN-

LOSS"
DE 150 P0KE783,PEEK{783)AND254

:POKE532B1,0:POKE53280,

0
JE 160 REM ***{2 SPACES}MRIN H

ENU{2 SPACES}***
AC 170 PRINT"{CLR}";:F0RI=1T04

0:PRINT"{RVS} ";:NEXT

RS 1B0 PRINT"[H0ME}"TAB (5)HDS
KJ 190 RO=3:CO=5:GOSUB1150:PRI

NT"SELECT: " :CO=10;FORI=

1T03
PQ 200 RO=RO+2:GOSUB1150: PRINT

I" - "AN$(I) :NEXT
JG 210 INPUT"{D0WN}CH0ICE:";PS

: IFPS<"1"0RPS>"3"THEN21

JG 22
PC 23

GH 240

HM 250

KS 26

SS 27

BQ 28
BP 29
MJ 30

0 PH = 1

0 INPUT"{DOWN}ENTER INPUT
{2 SPACES} IMPEDANCE" ;ZI
:IFZI=0 THENGOSUB1260:G
OTO230

INPUT"ENTER OUTPUT IMPE
DANCE";ZO: IFZO=0THENGOS
UB1260:GOTO240
IFP$="3"ANDZ0=Z1THENPRI
NT"iDOWN}{RVS3HIN-L0SS
(SPACE] IS TO HATCH Z ' S "
:GOTO1210

0 IFP$="3"THEN300

0 INPUT"ENTER ATTENUATION
IN DB.",-AT
IFAT=0THEN1250

0 N=EXP(LOG(10)*AT/10)

0 ONVAL(P$)GOTO310,440,57

RB 310 REM ***(2 SPACESlCALC F

OR T OR H(3 SPACES}***
FQ 320 R3=2*SQR(ZI*ZO*N)/(N-l)
FS 330 R1=ZI*(N+1)/(N-1)-R3:R1

=INT (FNPM(Rl)*RI+.5)/FN

PM(Rl)
DA 340 R2=ZO*(N+l)/(N-l)-R3:R2

=INT (FNPM(R2)*R2+.5)/FN

PM(R2)
KQ 350 R3=1NT (FNPM(R3)*R3+.5)/

FNPM(R3)
FK 360 IFSGN(R2)=-1THEN1230
JP 370 RA=Rl:RB=R2:RC=R3
HA 380 GOTO690
HH 390 ZA=(ZO+R2)*R3/(ZO+R2+R3

) +R1:ZA-INT (FNPM(ZA)*ZA

+. 5)/FNPM(ZA)
SF 400 ZB=(ZH-R1)*R3/(ZI+R1+R3

)+R2:ZB=INT (FNPM{ZB)*ZB

+.5)/FNPM(ZB)
KX 410 VL=l/((Z0+R2)*R3/( (ZO+R

2 + R3)*ZA) *ZO/(Z0-i-R2))
GJ 420 AT=INT(100*(20*LOG(VL)/

LOG(10)-10*LOG(ZA/ZO)/L

OG(10) )+.5)/100
so 430 GOTO690
HD 440 REM ***(2 SPACES}CALC F

OR ' OR 0(3 SPACES}***
GR 450 R3=(N-l)/2*SQR(ZI*ZO/N)
PB 460 Ri = l/(l/ZI*(N + l)/{N-.l)-
{1/R3) ) :R1=INT (FNPM(Rl)

*Rl+.5)/FNPM(Rl)
AX 470 R2=1/(1/Z0*(N+1)/(N-1)-
(1/R3) ) :R2=INT (FNPM(R2)

*R2+.5)/FNPM(R2)
CE 480 R3 = INT (FNPM(R3)*R3 + .5)/

FNPM(R3)
AB 490 IFSGN (R1)=-1THEN1230
RD 500 RA=R1:RB=R2:RC=R3
DH 510 GOTO 87 0

XX 520 OZ=ZO*R2/(ZO+R2) tIZ=ZI*

Rl/(ZI+Rl)
XP 530 ZA=(OZ+R3)*Rl/(OZ+Rl+R3

) :ZA=INT (FNPM(ZA)*ZA+.5

)/FbJPM(ZA)
as 540 ZB={IZ+R3)*R2/(IZ+R2+R3

) :ZB=INT (FNPM(ZB)*ZB+.5

)/FNPM(ZB)
FX 550 RT=INT(100* (20*LOG( (0Z+

R3)/OZ)/LOG(10)-13*LOG{

ZA/ZO)/LOG(10))+.5)/100
HP 560 GOTO870
XD 570 REM ***{2 SPACES}CALC F

OR MIN-L0SS(2 SPACES}**

*
EP 580 IFZO>ZITHENZ=ZI:ZI=ZO:Z

0 = Z
PA 590 R3=ZO/SQR(1-(ZO/ZI) ) :R3

= INT {FNPM(R3) *R3+.5)/FN

PM(R3)
DM 600 R1=ZI*SQR(1-(Z0/ZI) ) :R1

= INT (FNPH(Rl)*Rl+.5)/FN

PM(Rl)
XG 610 ZA=ZI

MP 620 RA=Rl:RB=R2:RC=R3
XS 630 GOTO660
GH 640 ZA=Z0*R3/(Z0+R3)+R1:ZA=

INT (FNPM(ZA)*ZA+.5)/FNP

M(ZA)
BD 650 ZB=(ZI+R1)*R3/(ZI+R1+R3

) :ZBsINT (FNPM(ZB)*ZB+.5

)/FNPM(ZB)
MX 660 VL=ZA/(ZO*R3/(ZO+R3))
XJ 670 AT = INT {100* (20*LOG(VL)/

LOG (10) -10*LOG (ZA/ZO) /L

OG(10))+.5)/100
XR 680 GOTO1000
HA 690 REH *i**(2 SPACES }DISPLA

Y T NETW0RK{2 SPACES)**

HD 700 PRINT" (CLR}"HD$"
(2 SPACES}"AN$(1)

MK 710 PRINTTAB(5)CCS(PH)

SQ 720 PRINTTAB(49) "CCCC{RVS}
{WHT}(3 SPACEsTTfXOFF)
CC{R}rC(RVS}{WHT}
TI SPflCES}{7}{0FF}CCC"

PF 730 PRINTTAB(10) "{8 SPACES}
B"

MR 740 PRINTTAB(10)"(3 SPACES}
Rl{3 S PACES }(RVS}{WHT}
{SPACE}{7H0FF}
(4 SPACFS3B2"

HE 750 PRINTTAB(10) "(B SPACES}
'{RVS}{WHT} <7}'{0FF} R3"

HP 760 PRINTTAB(10i"{8 SPACES}
(RVS}(WHT3 {7}{0FF}"

KP 770 PRINTTAB(10) "(3 SPACES)
{WHT}{3 @H7}{2 SPACES}
B(2 SPACES} (WKT}<3 ?>

{7}"

GS 780 PRINTTAB(9) "CCCCCCCCC

|E>CCCCCCCC"
XJ 790 PRINTTAB(10) "(3 SPACES)

SWHT5{T}f{T>{7}

{5 SPACES} {WHT}'{T}|{T}

{7}"
SM 800 PRINT"{3 nOWN}T NOTE; I

JUNE 1992 COMPUTE G-39

PROGRAMS

AQ 810

AJ 820
XQ 830

FB 840

850

860

870

880

890

900

910

920

930

940

950

960

970

980

990

100

10 1

102

103

104

105

106

F BALANCED H THEN Rl &

tSPACE}R2"

PRINT" {8 SPACES} ARE HAL

VED."

PRINT" {D0WN}RI="R1TAB(1

5) "R2="R2TAB{30) "R3="R3

RO=5:CO=3:GOSUB1150:IFP

H=1THENPRINT"ZI"ZITAB(3

0) "ZO"ZO:GOTO850

PRINT"ZI(CYN}"ZATAB{3 0)

"{7>ZO"ZO:RO=7:GOSUB115

0:PRINT"{2 SPACES}"ZITA

B(30)"{2 SPACES} {CYN}"Z

B"-t7>"

RO = H:CO = 10:GOSUB1150:P

RINTLOSdNT (VAL(PS)/2 + .

5) ) ;AT" DB"

GOTO1160

REM ***{2 SPACES)DISPLA

Y l_ NETW0RK{2 SPACES)**

PRINT"{CLR}"HDS"
{2 SPACES}"ANS (2)
PRINTTAB (5)CC$ (PH)
PRINTTAB (50) "CCCCC^RJCC
{RVS}{WHT3{3 SPACES)
(0FF}{7>CC{R}CCCC"
PRINTTAB(10) "{5 SPACES}
B(7 SPACES }B"
PRINTTAB(10) "{5 SPACES)
{RVS}{WHT) {0FF}{7>
{3 SPACES)R3{2 SPACES)
{RVS){WHT) {0FF){7}"
PRINTTAB(10) "{5 SPACES)
{RVS}{WHT) {0FF){7} Rl
{A SPACES) (RVS) {HHT)
{0FF}'{7> R2"
PRINTTAB(10) "{5 SPACES)
{RVS}{WHT) {0FF){7J
{7 SPACES H RVS ){WHT)
{0FF){7>"

PRINTTAB(10) "{5 SPACES)
B{2 SPACES} {WHT){3 @>
{7H2 SPACES}B"
PRINTTAB(10) "CCCCC{E}CC
CCCCCtEJCCCC"
PRINTTAB(10) "{8 SPACES)
{WHT){T}|{TK7>"
PRINT" {3 DOWN) I NOTE: I
F BALANCED 0 THEN R3 IS

HALVED"
GOTO820
0 REM ***{2 SPACES}DISPL

AY MIN-L0SS{2 SPACES}*

0 PRINT" {CLR}"HD$"
{2 SPACES)"AN$(3)

0 PRINTTAB(5)CCS(PH)

0 PRINTTAB(49) "CCCC(RVS)
(WHT){3 SPACES) {7}
{OFF )CC<tR}CCCCCCCC"

0 PRINTTAB{10) "
{a SPACES )B"

0 PRINTTAB{10) "

{3 SPACES )R1{ 3 SPACES)
{RVS}{WHT) <7}{0FF}"

0 PRINTTAB (10) "

{8 SPACES ){ RVS }{WHT)

{7H0FF} R3"
FS X070 PRINTTAB (10)"

{8 SPACES) {RVS} [WHT)

{7K0FF)"
FJ 1080 PRINTTAB (10) "

{3 SPACES} CWHT)<3 @}

<7}{2 SPACES }B"
QS 1090 PRINTTAB (9) "CCCCCCCCC

{EJ'CCCCCCCC"
CD 1100 PRINTTAB (10) "

{3 SPACES} {WHT}iT>UT}

BM 1110 PKINT"{3 DOWN)]" NOTE:

{SPACE} IF BALANCED THE

N Rl IS HALVED."
SD 1120 PRINT" {D0WN)R1="R1TAB(

30)"R3="R3
KE 1130 GOTO830
KS 1140 REM *** SUB-RTES ***
PQ 1150 POKE781,RO:POKE782,CO:

SYS65520:RETURN
SH 1160 RO=22:CO=0:GOSUB1150:P

RINT"{CYN}1-ENTER NEW

tSPACE)R VALUES

(4 SPACES }2-MENU

[4 SPACES}3~QUIT-{7}"
CK 1170 GETA$:IFA$<>"1"ANDA$<>

"2"ANDAS<>"3"THEN1170
RM 1180 IFA$="2"THEN160
XR 1190 IFA$="3"THENPRINT"

{CLR)":POKE53281,6:POK

E53280,14:END
AJ 1200 PRINT" {CLR3":GOSUB1270

;ONVAL(P$) GOTO 390, 520,

640
AA 1210 PRINT" (DOWN) {CYN)HIT S

HIFT TO REDO<7>":WAIT6

53,1:GOTO160
KH 1220 PRINT" {RVS}VALUE ENTER

ED IS > OR < THAN 20%

{SPACE )0F" : PRINTTAB (10

)R:RETURN
AD 1230 PRINT"{DOWt}){RVS}THE I

NSERTION LOSS IS < MIN

.LOSS -"
MK 1240 PRINT"{5 SPACES ) {RVS} R

EDO OR CHOOSE MIN.LOSS

":GOTO1210
RR 1250 PRINT"{DOWN){RVS) SOME
INSERTION LOSS MUST E

XIST ":GOTO1210
JK 1260 PRINT"{DOWN) {RVS) SOME
IMPEDANCE MUST EXIST

{SPACE )":RETURN
HP 1270 REM *** GET NEW R VALU

ES ***
MP 1280 RO=4:CO=5:GOSUB1150:PR

INT"{CYN) {RVS}RETURN

{OFF} ONLY FOR ORIGINA

L R VALUE<7>{D0WN}"

RK 1290 PH=2:R1$= R2$="":R3$

_ir n

CR 1300 INPUT"ENTER NEW Rl VAL
UE";R1$:R1=VAL{R1S) :IF
R1$=""THENR1=RA:G0T013
20

DK 1310 IFABS (VAL(R1$)-RA)>.2*
RATHENR=RA:R1S="":G0SU

KG 1320
CA 1330

SG 1340
SS 1350

XA 1360

JR 1370
JG 1380

B1220:GOTO1300

IFP$="3"THEN1350

INPUT"ENTER NEW R2 VAL

UE";R2$:R2=VAL{R2$) ; IF

R2S=""THESR2=RB :G0T013

IFABS (VAL (R2S ) -RB) > . 2*

RBTHENR=RB:R25="":GOSD

B1220:GOTO1330

INPUT"ENTER NEW R3 VAL

UE";R3$:R3=VAL(R3$) :IF

R3S=""THENR3=EC:GOT013

IFABS (VAL (R3$) -RC) >. 2*

RCTHENR=RC:R3S="":G0SU

Bi220:GOTO1350

IFRl=RAANDR2=RBANDR3=R

CTHENPH=1

RETURN

Robert C. Marcus lives in St. Tliomas,
Ontario, Canada. He's tiie autlior of
CoilCalc (June 1991). a

TYPING AIDS

Mi_X, our machine language en-
try program for the 64 and 128,
and The Automatic Proofreader
are utilities that help you type in
Gazette programs without mak-
ing mistakes. To make room for
more programs, we no longer in-
clude these labor-saving utili-
ties in every issue, but they can
be found on each Gazette
Disk and are printed in all is-
sues of Gazette through June
1990.

If you don't have access to
a back issue or to one of our
disks, write to us, and we'll
send you free copies of both of
these handy programs. We'll
also include instructions on
how to type in Gazette pro-
grams. Please enclose a self-
addressed, stamped envelope.

Write to Typing Aids, COM-
PUTE'S Gazette, 324 West Wen-
dover Avenue, Suite 200,
Greensboro, North Carolina
27408.

G-40 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

John Dvorak Brings You Thirty Of The Finest
Productivity Packages, All In One Box!

World-renowned computer columnist John C. Dvorak has chosen the
30 best shareware programs he believes everyone who operates a computer
should have. And he's put them all together in this single, powerful
package. Dvorak's Top 30™ contains essential, 100% fully functional
programs including a database, spreadsheet, word processor, accounting
package, communications program for modem access, several fun computer
games and other useful utilities that make your computer more efficient,
productive and friendly.
Thirty programs conveniently packaged at one low price. Dvorak'^
Top 30^^ - the shareware collection no computer should be without.

Dvorak's Top 30^^^ includes:

■ Easy'tO'Use accounting spreadsheet programs

■ An extensim database program

■ (Jser'/riendl)' word processor

■ Communication program

■ Printer utilities, exciting games and much more

Ifyou like and use any of ihe ihmeKare {wafitfts, a Ti^nodanfee will be requ'ral.

And The World's Only Talking Typing Tutor!

Dvorak On Typing™ is the first major typing program to feature a
human voice that sounds out the letters as you type, helping you to
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take you easily through the formation of sentences, paragraphs and full
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selections, and later lessons even dictate to you verbally.

The program constantly monitors your progress in easy-to-read
graphs, allowing you to track your speed, accuracy, problem keys,
and level of improvement. Most importantly, it makes lean:\ing an
enjoyable experience, with encouraging lessons and games that
make practice fun.

Dvorak On T>'ping^' includes:

■ Both KEYBOARD TRAINING
fi? TYPING SKILLS IMPROVEMENT

■ Lessons /or STANDARD, DVORAK
fi? I O-KEY NUMERIC PADS

■ Full VGA graphics

■ Beginner, intermediate ami advanced lessons

■ Program's memory charts your personal speed and
acatracy /progress

To order Dvorak's Top 30™ or Dvorak On T}'ping^\ see your local
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DnircJc'i Top 30™ © 1992 fTiKr|ilii; Praiiicuoiii . All ngfm leservsd. IXvrak's Tof 30™ is a nadmark 0/ htnplay
Prodiiccons. DimoJi On TTpinj™ ©I99( ParkPlai:!! ProductimTeam. Aliri^tsrcsmed.DtvtakOnTyi^g"
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Circle Reader Service Number 262

3710 s. Susan, Suite 100
Santa Ana, CA 92704
(714)549-2411

REVIEWS

STACKER AT/16

I should admit up front that
I'm highly prejudiced about
this product. I've already
called Stacker 1 .0 one of the
all-time great software pro-
grams. Now Stacker 2.0 and
Stacker AT/16 come along
with even more features. I'll try
to restrain myself, but I'm like-
ly to gush with superlatives.

Stacker compresses the da-
ta on your hard drive, giving
you — on average — twice the
available storage space. If
you have a crammed 20MB
hard drive, Stacker could
turn it into a more roomy
40MB drive. Once you install
the software, it works in the
background. You basically
set it and forget it.

Stac Electronics currently
offers four different Stacker
products: Stacker 2.0 {the
software-only version, $149),
Stacker XT/8 (Stacker 2.0
with an 8-bit coprocessor
card, $199), Stacker AT/16
(Stacker 2.0 with a 16-bit
coprocessor card, $249),
and Stacker MC/16 (Stacker
2.0 with a microchannel 16-
bit coprocessor card, $299),
The software-only version is
perfect for laptops. The note-
book computer Tm writing on
right now has a 60MB drive
that Stacker 2.0 has convert-
ed to a 110MB drive. But
don't just take my word for it;
both Central Point Software
and Symantec license the
Stacker software compres-
sion technology for their best-
selling backup programs:
PC Tools Backup and Nor-
ton Backup.

So why use Stacker with a
coprocessor card if the soft-
ware works so well by itself?
The card offers significantly
faster performance. On my
20-MHz 80386 computer,
the software-only version
caused the hard drive to run
about 35 percent slower
than it did before it was com-
as COMPUTE JUNE 1992

pressed, while Stacker AT/
16 caused the hard drive to
run only about 5 percent slow-
er. The card also offers a
slightly better connpression ra-
tio. On the same 386, Stack-
er AT/16 achieved a 2.1 : 1
ratio compared to Stacker
2.0's 1.9 : 1 ratio. In addi-
tion, the card has no jump-

pends on your computer. If
you have a lot of com-
pressed files on your hard
drive, such as ZIP or GIF
files, your compression ratio
could be well below the 2 : 1
average— making Stacker
much less of a bargain. And
while my 386 ran just 35 per-
cent slower with the Stacker

STACKER

SOFTWARE

DOUBLES
YOUR DISK

rCAMCIIY

stacker's compression capabilities can double the size of some
iiard drives, but it also slows some down considerably.

ers, switches, or interrupts to
worry about— like the soft-
ware, you basically set it and
forget it.

The AT/16 card uses a
new compression chip that
runs 39 percent faster than
the chip used by the Stacker
1.0 8-bit card. And the new
Stacker 2.0 software is as
much as 30 percent faster
than version 1.0, can take up
as little as 1 4K of convention-
al memory (or can be load-
ed into high memory with
DOS 5.0 or a memory man-
ager program), includes a
special disk-optimizing pro-
gram {regular defragmenta-
tion programs won't work),
and can compress floppies,
RAM disks, and Bernoulli
disks, as well as hard drives.

Is Stacker for you? It de-

2.0 software and a mere 5
percent slower with the Stack-
er AT/ 16 software-and-card
combination, a much slower
XT compatible with a 6B-ms
hard drive could run as
much as 500 percent slower
with the Stacker 2.0 software
and 200 percent slower with
the Stacker XT/8 software-
and-card combination, To
continue the comparisons,
you can expect a 10-MHz
286 computer to run about
400 percent slower with
Stacker 2.0 and about 50 per-
cent slower with Stacker AT/
16. Clearly, the faster the
processor, the faster Stack-
er can compress and decom-
press your files.

If you have a 386 or 486,
Stacker AT/16 is a no-brain-
er. Not only will it compress

your current hard drive, but
it will essentially double any
hard drive you buy in the fu-
ture. If you have a 10- or 12-
MHz 286, the decision is
tougher, as you'll have to
choose between size and
speed for your hard drive.

DAVID ENGLISH

IBM PC and compatibles, 512K
RAM, hard drive, open 16-bit slot —
3249

STAC ELECTRONICS

5993 Avenida Encinas

Carlsbad. CA 92008

(619) 431-7474

Circle Reader Service Number 361

PROCALC 3D

Most spreadsheets are like
one big sheet of graph paper
divided into numbered rows
and lettered columns. Pro-
Calc 3D is like a big cube
of graph paper (called a
workcube in ProCalc lingo) di-
vided into pages, with each
page a separate worksheet.

Each worksheet in a
workcube can detail the per-
formance of a corporate di-
vision or profits in a year or
any other meaningful divi-
sion, and you can page
through these with a key-
stroke. The paper metaphor
ends there, however, be-
cause with ProCalc, you can
view your data not just from
the front but from the sides,
back, top, and bottom. For ex-
ample, you can rotate the
workcube to see all the A col-
umns on one page, the B col-
umns on the next, and so on.

This is easier to see than
to describe, but it does
work. You'll have to stretch
your mind to grasp working
with data in three dimen-
sions instead of the usual
two, but if you can, you can
do things that are difficult or
impossible with an ordinary
spreadsheet. It does take
some thought to design work-
sheet pages that provide co-

JOIN THE GENERATION
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Look and feel years younger.

Kathy Keeton shares everything she's learned from the experts and from her own experience: the

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There's good news about maintaining your brain power, sexua activity, body tone or

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In chapter 7 of LONGEVITY you'll find a series of self-administered tests. In just a
few minutes they'll tell you how your biological age compares to your
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• Names and addresses of
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REVIEWS

herent information when
viewed from various angles.
Your best bet is to settle on
a layout for the first page
and sticl<; to it on every
page, although you don't
have to.

Being able to examine
any slice of data at any time
is a real boon for preparing
reports that have to provide
multiple views of data. For ex-
ample, you could create two
charts, one showing yearly
profits by department and a
second showing profits in
January over a five-year pe-
riod, simply by changing
your view of the cube and
making a chart from the se-
lected columns or rows.

Does ProCalc have suffi-
cient capacity to handle
those really big jobs? You
have access to 512 rows,
512 columns, and 512 pag-
es, yielding 134 million
cells. That ought to be
enough for any spreadsheet-
modeling job short of track-
ing the federal government.
There are also more than
100 built-in math, trig, and
statistical functions. Formu-
las can work on any range
or block of cells, even
across pages, ProCalc has
its own command language,
and it can import Lotus
files. Several types of charts
can be generated from spec-
ified cells.

Error tracking is an impor-
tant concern for any spread-
sheet, especially one as po-
tentially data-dense as Pro-
Calc. The program has two
audit modes; Trace, which
highlights all formulas that ap-
ply to the current cell, and
Map, which shows a com-
pressed view of the current
page with each cell pictured
as a symbol that tells you
what kind of data it contains.
Unfortunately, while in an au-
dit mode, you can't print an er-
ror report or have ProCalc
change a range of cells.

100 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

li^ort HoneyCouiit!! d«t<

KonsuCouiilE,

mil tjjiii $54. BB i'MAin 'iCz.eo $171.80
ituta uin) fiea.ee tvmM ;iea.ee $5io.eQ
Fuod (j<D) $2SB.ee jzeG.se $274. bs $79B.ee

loUl Uaii) 5772.96 4B74.BB 4916.88 42562.88

l-Help 2-1411 3-ltl(ick 4-fttiaolute 5-CoTo B-Sotrch 7-lo«il 8-S«w 9-ltec«lc lWr»

Expand your spreadsheet consciousness with ProCalc, which
allows you to view a spreadsheet as a multisided cube.

ProCalc is certainly a sol-
id implennentation — at a
good price. If you routinely
need to manipulate many re-
lated data sets and your
company doesn't force you
to use Lotus 1-2-3, take a
serious look at ProCalc.

STEVEN ANZOViN

IBM PC and compatibles, 51 2K
RAM, hard drive— S89

PARSONS TECHNOLOGY

One Parsons Dr,

Hiawatha, lA 52233

(319) 395-9626

Circle Reader Service Number 362

JUSTWRITEI.O

Until recently, it would've
been easier to convince Bill
Gates to sweep floors at IBM
than it would've been to find
an inexpensive Windows-com-
patible word processor. Luck-
ily, word processor price
wars have been raging, with
major titles like Microsoft's
Word for Windows (WinWord)
being discounted from an ap-
palling $495.00 to a more pal-
atable SI 29.95. The catch?
To get these low prices, you
must be "upgrading" from an-
other word processor.
If you can get the $129

price on WinWord, Ami Pro,
or another high-end pack-
age, by all means do so. But
if you're not on the upgrade
track or if you're looking for
a Windows word processor
that won't bury you in a lot of
fancy features you can't use,
you might want to take a gan-
der at Symantec's JustWrite.

Amazingly, JustWrite looks
and acts a lot like WinWord.
It features a toolbar and ruler
similar to WinWord's ribbon
and ruler, and while Just-
Write lacks macro capabili-
ties, it does include a full-
featured spelling checker
and thesaurus. The spelling
checker boasts a 100,000-
word dictionary, making it on-
ly slightly smaller than the
130,000-word dictionary in-
cluded with WinWord.

JustWrite's toolbar icons
provide access to many text-
formatting functions, includ-
ing font and font size, text col-
or, text attributes (bold,
italic, underline, and strike
through), superscript and sub-
script, justification, line spac-
ing, and paragraph spacing.
Any of these icons can be add-
ed to or deleted from the
toolbar, customizing it to
match your needs perfectly.

JustWrite can handle many
document layouts, including
single- and multiple-column
(up to eight columns), as
well as documents that mix
graphics and text. To help
with the page-layout chores,
you can create a style library
containing frequently ap-
plied styles for text elements
like titles, subheads, and
body text. In addition, you
can create section libraries,
which define the format of a
specific portion of a docu-
ment, and document librar-
ies, which store document
formats.

Moreover, JustWrite has
the ability to import and ex-
port several text formats, in-
cluding WordPerfect and Win-
Word. To handle these types
of documents, you don't
need to use a special import
function. JustWrite imports
them automatically.

Fairly sophisticated docu-
ments can be created with
JustWrite, using text, table,
and graphic frames. Text
frames allow you to create
horizontal or vertical text ban-
ners and other special text
elements, while graphic
frames allow you to import
several types of graphics
files, including PCX, TIF, and
Microsoft Paint files. Graph-
ics also can be copied from
Windows' clipboard. You
can scale, crop, or move the
Imported graphics as de-
sired. You can add borders
and backgrounds to any
type of frame.

Especially nice are the ta-
ble frames, which present
you with a spreadsheet-like
entry form, complete with
column heads, row heads,
and cells. You can easily
change column and row siz-
es with your mouse, and you
can insert whatever addition-
al rows and columns you
need.

Your text can be viewed
in "proof" or "detailed"

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Unlimited is a trademark of Accolade, Inc. All other product and corporate names are trademarks and registered trademarks of therr respedjve owners © 1992 Accolade, Inc. All rights reserved-

Circle Ruder Service Number 119

REVIEWS

mode, the latter of which dis-
plays invisible characters,
such as carriage returns,
spaces, and tabs. You can al-
so view your document in sev-
eral sizes, including normal,
enlarged, reduced, and full
page. The full-page view is
the closest JustWrite comes
to a print-preview mode. Un-
fortunately, on my system, I
was unable to get the full-
page representation to resem-
ble closely the final output.
The screen always showed
the body text about 25 per-
cent too narrow, with a decep-
tively wide right margin. (Doc-
uments printed fine.) Al-
though Symantec's techni-
cal support was excellent
(the technicians tried to
help me fix the problem
over the phone; when that
didn't work, they sent out a
new set of disks), I was nev-
er able to get this feature to
work properly.

JustWrite supports Win-
dows' Dynamic Data Ex-
change (DDE), so you can in-
sert data from other applica-
tions, such as a spreadsheet
chart, and be assured of the
data's staying updated. In
addition, JustWrite can
handle mail merges, using
ASCII, Q & A 3,0, or dBASE
lll/IV files as the source for
the name and address data.
It also can easily handle
your outlining chores with
its built-in outliner. You can
even use JustWrite to create
a table of contents or an
index.

JustWrite isn't perfect.
The spelling checker, for in-
stance, takes an annoyingly
fong time to suggest spell-
ings for suspect words. Win-
Word is more than twice as
fast. Also, you can get a
word count only by doing a
complete spelling check,
which will disappoint profes-
sional writers who need to
keep close tabs on the size
of their documents.

102 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

JustWrite's documenta-
tion comprises three vol-
umes: a 200-page user's
manual, a 290-page refer-
ence manual, and a 10-
page quick-reference guide.
Each volume is well organ-
ized and generally well writ-
ten. Few users will have dif-
ficulty installing or using the
product.

In spite of a few minor
flaws, JustWrite is an excel-
lent choice for a first
Windows word processor.
While professional writers
may want to look else-
where, general users will
find almost everything they
need to produce attractive
and well-designed docu-
ments. With a street price of
$140 to $160, it's hard to
go wrong with JustWrite.

CLAYTON WALNUM

IBM PC and compatibles (80286 or
faster). 2MB BAM, hard drive, Win-
dows 3.0— S 199

SYMAr^JTEC

10201 Torre Ave.

Cupertino, CA 95014-2132

(800) 441-7234

(408) 253-9600

Circle Reader Service Number 363

ACERANYWARE
1120NX

With the recent flood of note-
book computers, it's harder
than ever to find a genuinely
unique notebook. The Acer-
AnyWare 1120NX isn't dra-
matically different, but it
does have a number of
small, well-planned features
that make it stand out from
the crowd.

The first thing you notice
is the AnyWare's large VGA
screen; it's a full ten inches
measured diagonally, The
screen isn't as bright as
many I've seen, but the size
more than makes up for any
lack of intensity.

The AnyWare comes with
a 20-MHz 386SX processor

(which is pretty much the
norm these days for a note-
book computer); a sturdy
case; and a choice of 20fv1B,
40fvlB, or 60MB hard drive.
The hard drives are especial-
ly fast; the average seek
time for the BOMB drive we
tested was just under 14
milliseconds. The unit uses
two batteries which change
over automatically, giving it
a combined battery life of
more than three hours. The
twin battery system has the
added benefit of letting you
trim the AnyWare's 7.4
pounds by 12 ounces when
you carry a single battery.

The unit really shines in
the area of expandability.
Besides the usual VGA, se-
rial, and parallel ports, it
has ports for a second seri-
al device, an external flop-
py drive, an external key-
board/keypad, and a three-
slot expansion chassis.
While the unit comes with
just 1MB of RAM, you can
bring it up to 5MB with user-
installable DRAM cards.
You can upgrade the BIOS
with a similar user-installa-
ble card.

No matter how well a com-
pany designs a laptop, it's
even better when you can
set it up just the way you
want it. The AnyWare has the
best setup program I've
seen. You can configure the
second serial port for an ex-
ternal serial device, for a
built-in modem, or as a non-
working port in order to ex-
tend the life of your batteries.
You can set the unit to boot
from C:, to boot from A;, or to
automatically look for A: and
then C;. You can even cre-
ate two sets of power-saving
options to shut down the
LCD backlight and hard
drive and activate the doze
and sleep modes. It's easy
to switch between your favor-
ite power-saving battery con-
figuration and an optimized

AC-power setup.

On the downside, I didn't
care for the lazy-L arrange-
ment of the cursor keys (I pre-
fer the traditional upside-
down T pattern), the right-
hand Shift key is too small
and therefore too easy to
miss, and the unit is a tad on
the heavy side.

The many small advantag-
es to the AcerAnyWare
1120NX, when taken togeth-
er, add up to a very attractive
notebook computer.

DAVID ENGLISH

AcerAnyWare 1120NX with 3MB
RAM, 60MB hard drive, and 2400-
bps modem— $3,395

ACER AMERICA

2641 Orchard Pkwy.

San Jose, CA 95134

(800) 733-2237

Circle Reader Service Number 364

SOFTWARE
BRIDGE

Moving text between word
processing packages con-
sumes time and sometimes
seems next to impossible be-
cause of embedded con-
trols, wildly different print
and layout settings, and pro-
prietary languages. At such
times, a good document con-
verter proves vital. Perhaps
the best known of such con-
verters. Systems Compatibil-
ity's Software Bridge, now
goes where no word process-
ing conversion package has
gone before, adding transla-
tion facilities for 12 spread-
sheet and nine database for-
mats {including Excel, Lotus
1-2-3, Quattro Pro, dBASE,
and FoxBase).

Function keys handle the
transfer of rows, columns,
and isolated data. I tried Soft-
ware Bridge on 13 programs
that managed the change-
over successfully. Note that
these new conversions are
strictly one-way — into word
processing formats. While

REVIEWS

some other programs bidirec-
tionally translate between a
much broader range of soft-
ware, they require cor^sider-
ably more input and knowl-
edge from the user.

Little of this is necessary
for Software Bridge, whose
primary asset remains its
ease of use as it hides trans-
lation complexity from the us-
er. Identical font mapping dur-
ing conversions occurs auto-
matically where formats per-
mit, and the program sup-
ports substitute fonts, If you
want to see your files before
translating them, just indi-
cate their directory; as you
scroll through the available
file list on the left, they're dis-
played automatically in their
native formats on the right.
You can process one file or
several, though you're lim-
ited to a single format conver-
sion (WordPerfect 5.1 to
XyWrite, for instance) per
round.

If you need to perform for-
mat conversions. Systems
Compatibility has a bridge for
you. Supporting 60 formats in
all, Software Bridge comes
strongly recommended.

BARRY BRENESAL

IBM PC and compatibles, 390K
RAM, two disk drives— $149

SYSTEMS COMPATIBILITY

401 N. Wabash, Ste. 600

Chicago, IL 60611

(312) 329-0700

Circle Reader S«rvlce Mumber 365

QUICKAUTHOR

An application development
environment for nonprogram-
mers? You bet. That's the
promise of QuickAuthor. With
it, you can create stand-alone
applications like tutorials, soft-
ware demos, online help sys-
tems, and hypertext systems.
QuickAuthor does have a
few limitations. Its applica-
tions can use only character-
based displays, and they re-

104 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

ceive all input from the key-
board. But until the GUI rev-
olution, almostevery DOS pro-
gram shared these proper-
ties. QuickAuthor has only
one significant limitation, it
can only display information,
not process it. You can't
write a sort routine using
QuickAuthor, for example.

full-featured editor, which can
create, modify, and store any
type of character-mode
screen, whether you design
or copy it.

Next, you must specify
how to move between
screens. Essentially, you tell
QuickAuthor, "If you're at
screen X and the user press-

Software Bridge, which can translate many spreadsheets and data-
base formats, moves info from spreadsheets to word processors.

Still, it has myriad uses.

For instance, how about
implementing an online em-
ployee handbook? Maintain-
ing it on a local area network
would make it continuously
available to all users, and it
could be updated without
huge printing costs.

QuickAuthor makes design-
ing applications a snap.
There are two steps: creating
the screens that the user will
see when running the applica-
tion and telling QuickAuthor
how to move between them.
Applications may contain up
to 800 screens, so there are
few jobs too large for Qu ic kAu-
thor to handle.

QuickAuthor contains two
screen-design utilities. First, it
includes a screen-capture util-
ity, which copies any charac-
ter-mode screen displayed in
another program, such as in
a word processor or spread-
sheet. Second, it includes a

as key Y, display screen Z."
When finished, simply save
the application as an EXE
file. It will not require QuickAu-
thor or any other support
files to run, and you may free-
ly distribute it, paying no roy-
alties of any kind. Use of im-
ages from other software,
however, is an issue to be re-
solved between you and the
copyright holders.

QuickAuthor's power, sim-
plicity, and almost unlimited
number of uses make it an ex-
cellent program. The pro-
gram can be a valuable addi-
tion to any user's set of tools.

RICHARD RAPP

ISM PC and compatibles, 640K
RAM— SI 29

DATACOMPOSE

131 Bloor St, W, Ste. 200-175

Toronto, ON

Canada M5S lRe

(416)921-6082

Circle Reader Service Number 366

AVERY
PERSONAL
LABEL PRINTER

The Avery Personal Label Print-
er is a secretary's dream. If
you're not actually a secretary
but you only function as one
for your family or some chari-
table organization, you'll still
love this machine.

In my experience, profes-
sional-looking printed labels
are almost more trouble than
they're worth. Setting up
those labels (which almost al-
ways come off inside the print-
er) and getting them to print
at the right place (before you
use up all you have) add up
to one big headache. If I on-
ly have one label to print, it's
often handwritten. Save a
headache, sacrifice an im-
pression. But at last there is
a low-cost solution to this di-
lemma: the Avery Personal La-
bel Printer! This little ma-
chine (only six inches tall
and four inches wide), along
with its accompanying soft-
ware, takes the hassle out of
labels. It takes only 3Vz sec-
onds to produce laser-print-
ed labels with a 137-dpi res-
olution. That makes for good-
looking labels! It's so easy to
use ihat you couldn't get it to
jam even if you tried to oper-
ate it before that first jolt of
morning Java. You stick the
labels on the spindle, drop
the spindle in the machine,
and stick the end of the la-
bels in the only possible
place to put it. The machine
feeds itself. There are only
two buttons: power and form
feed.

Another groundbreaking
simplification by the folks at
Avery is the software includ-
ed in this package: Label
Pro and Personal Label Print-
er. Label Pro lets you design
labels and store the formats
to use time and time again.

GET REAL!

MicroLeague Baseball4

■"'"^^^'■-'■'*^'^^'-

■ liiOOJ 01 > BW1T aNn sfCflL
4'Mrji 114 1 H1 1 i>i iHidii nil

USA TODAY Edition

Here it is: the first product to bring Major
League Baseball's past, present, and future to life
right on your computer screen.

Never before have graphic realism and statistical
accuracy been so effectively combined in one break-
through package. More Stats! More Action!

• Get the real picture! You'll see stunning full-

color, 3-D graphics, intercut with live action
zooms, to make the game breathtakingly real.

• You call the shots! MLB4 includes the 28 all time

great teams and the full 1991 season stats. It
allows you to manage teams of the past or present
(like the '27 Yankees) or play for this year's
pennant with your favorite 1992 club.

• Keep on top of it all! The first download is FREE!

(a savings of $6.00!) Using your modem, auto-
matically download the most comprehensive and
current stxitistics directly from USA
TODAY Sports Center. No
Modem? We'll send you the
USA TODAY Baseball Stats
Disk with the latest updated
statistics fCA/LymOO-

ONLY $49.95

includes shipping and handling).

• Who's going to win tonight's key game? MLB4

can play it out as many times as you'd like — then
report the cumulative box score! At the same
time, it can ptay out all the other scheduled
games, too!

AUXILIARY DlSKS-separate purchase necessary

• A new breakthrough! The MicroLeague Baseball

Analyst™. Get an accurate fix on the season
before it starts. Time-tested sabermetric prin-
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precise projections of statistical performances —
for teams, players and prospects. Use the disk to
update the projections as trades, injuries, or other
factors develop during the season.

• Be a GM/Owner. Besides inputting stats, our

GM/Owner disk lets you make trades and roster
changes to assemble your "dream team." You

can also input your child's little league
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Get Real! Order MLB4 today!

COMPATIBILITY: IBM PC

(inquire about C-64, Amiga or MAC

availability for Baseball simulations)

Please visit your local software retailer or

CALL 1 -800-334-MLSA

2201 Drummond Plaza • Newark. DE 1971 1-5711 • (302)368-9990
Circle Reader Service Number 237

Worid acclaimed!
Reviewers rave
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circle Reader Service Number 192

REVIEWS

It's just detailed enough to give you all
the choices you need (scalable fonts,
the ability to add PCX clip art or other
graphics, and templates for all types of
Avery labels) and simple enough to use
within ten minutes of booting it up. Per-
sonal Label Printer is a hot-key program
that lets you print a label from wherever
you are in your computer files. Let's say
you're typing a letter in WordPerfect or
XyWrite and you want to print a label.
Just hit the hot key to activate the pro-
gram, highlight the address, and print.
To add icing to the cai<e, both of these
programs give you the option of print-
ing a postal bar code or code 39 on
your label.

This is a first-class printer, and it
does a first-class job. Paper-shuffling of-
fice work is time-consuming enough; an-
ything that makes it simpler rates high
in my book. The world needs more sim-
ple ideas that work well; it's the sim-
plicity of this machine and these pro-
grams that makes me a fan.

DANA STOLL

Avery Personal Label Printer— $279.95

AVERY-DENNISON

818 Oak Park Rd.

Covina. CA 91724-3624

(818) 915-3851

Circle Reader Service Number 367

CONAN THE CIMMERIAN

Thirsting for vengeance? Perhaps you
should try venting your spleen with Con-
an the Cimmerian, an adventure game
in which you assume the role of a fan-
tasy hero.

When the game begins, Conan, your
alter ego and the game's namesake, is
a young blacksmith. He finds his town
overrun by the evil forces of Thoth
Amon, higfi priest of the snake god Set.
Conan's viilage is raided, and his wife
is brutaify killed. Conan seeks venge-
ance: the death of the evil high priest,

Virgin has brought Robert E. How-
ard's popular hero to the microcomput-
er with this new adaptation of the game
engine used in Excalibur. The four lev-
els of play include a top view world
map, an oblique top view city map, a
dungeon map, and interior side view
scenes. The top view world map and
the side view interior scenes are similar
to the earlier Virgin efforts of Spirit and
Vengeance of Excalibur.

fvlouse, keyboard, and joystick work
smoothly to control Conan's movement
and combat, except when Conan gets
stuck on buildings or on the inhabitants
who wak the street. When Conan con-
tacts inhabitants, an interior scene pops

up for conversation or combat. Conver-
sation is brief and is terminated quickly
unless you bribe for more information,
Conan needs to break into homes and
steal gold to buy training and equipment.
Thievery gets Conan thrown into jail,
where all his hard-earned gold — but no
equipment — is taken.

Combat and exploration are in real-
time, and many of the inhabitants are
tougher and faster than Conan. The
world of Conan is a very lethal place. As
Conan, you'll need all your wits and reflex-
es in order to survive. You'll need to take
notes on conversations and map your sur-
roundings (the game has no automap-
ping). In order to compensate for the
difficulty of the game, Conan is reincar-
nated automatically when he dies.

Whether you're simply a fan of Con-
an, an adventure gamer who appreci-
ates arcade action, or a bloodthirsty
brute looking for a socially acceptable
outlet for your aggression, Conan the
Cimmerian could be the game for you.

ALFRED C. GIOVETTI

IBM PC and compatibles: S-IOK RAM; EGA.
MCGA, VGA, or Tandy: 10-MHz processor recom-
mended: hard drive recommended; Microsoft-
compatible mouse recommended; joystick option-
al-$49,99

VIRGIN GAMES

18061 Fitcti Ave.

Irvine, CA 92714

(714) 833-8710

Circle Reader Service Number 3es

HOWTEK PERSONAL
COLOR SCANNER

I'm not an expert desktop publisher, a
great computer artist, or even a sea-
soned scanner user. But this flatbed
scanner made me look like all three. Af-
ter I spent several days with it, the sky
opened up, and creating professional-
quality scanned color images became
second nature to me.

The scanner fit on my desk with
room to spare. It measures about 12 x
20 inches. A long cable was provided
to connect the scanner to the card in-
stalled in my computer. Although the
card has jumper settings so you can
work around equipment conflicts, I
didn't need to. Everything worked prop-
erly when I first fired it up.

I had my choice of eight software
packages and chose Tempra Pro,
since I'd used it before. I'm not sure if
my results would've differed with a dif-
ferent program, but Tempra Pro
worked well. It was fairly easy to figure
out without the manual. That's good, be-
cause when I did read the manual for
advice on the finer points I found it to
be poorly written and incomplete. For
example, it gave information about how

SOFTWARE HEADC

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GAMES

ess Attack Sut Combo 56

A.T.P, Flight Commandef 37

Aces d the PxiBc 43

Genghis Khan 37

Geo Jigsaw 37

Gettysburg-The Turning Polnl 39

Global Coti<iu6st 37

Gunship 2000 VGA 42

Adventures of Willie Beamish ....43

Allied Forces Bundle 42

Ancient Art of War... ,31

Ancient Art of War at Sea 31

Arachnophobia 19

Arachrophotjia w/Sound Soun:e27

Are We There Yet? 20

Armor Alley 29

B.A.T, ...20

Bandit Kings o! Ancient China....37

Bane of the Cosmic Forge 37

Barbie Fasdion & Oesigji 27

Bard's Tale Construction Set 34

Ba;d's Tale III 31

Bart S mpson Arcade Game 32

Ban Simpson's House of

Weirdness 32

Baseball Card Collector 22

Battle CKess 32

Battle Cness II 32

Battle Command 27

Battle Isle 33

BatileHawte 1942/Finesi Hour .43

Blitzkrieg 32

BhCdnycb 27

muesBntlam 32

Breach 2 22

Bridge 6.0 26

BiiSh Suck Adventures 32

Captan Comic tl: „..,„..,. 17

Car & Orfvof 40

Cliritr Strike 43

Cankis at War 34

Castles 37

C/tamp/ons , 37

Champions of Krynn 23

Chuck Veager's Air Combat 40

Civilization 43

Commard HQ 37

Conan the Cmmenan 32

Confflrt fti Korea 37

Conflict; Middle East 37

Conquest of Longbow 43

Corpcration 32

Crisis Iri the Kremfia 37

Crusaiierir ef the DaH< Savant. .A2

Dstklands 43

Deoih Knights of Hrynn 23

DerTroji/4ft 32

Hare Rptsing Havoc 27

Hare flaising/'Sound Source. .....32

Harpoon 30

Harpoon BattieSet # 2 or 3 21

Harpoon Eatt'eSet # 4 , 25

Harpoon Challenger Pah 46

Harpoon Scenano Editor 23

Heart of China ., 37

Hemes of the SSM. 34

Home Alone 27

HoverForce 32

Mickei'S Memory Challenge 22

Might & Magic 3 40

Millenium 27

Mission Impossible 32

Mised Up Fai7 Tales 32

Murder 30

Mnja Gaiden 2 , 20

No Greater Glory 37

Nobunaga's Ambrtion fl 37

Mova9 25

Obltus 39

Oh No! More Lemmings! 22

Oil Baron 27

Oat of tWs WmU 37

Operation COM'BAT 25

Paperboy 2 29

Paiton Striiies Back... 37

Perfect General 37

Perfect General Scenario 25

PMgdto 25

PlaiKfsCdte 40

Playoom 29

Pol«;eQuest3 37

Pools of Darkness 40

Populous.. 24

Powermonger. 34

Prehis(0-ik 32

Pnnce of Persia 27

Railroad T^oon 34

Rampart 29

Red Baron EGA or VGA 37

Riders of Rohan 32

Rise of the Dragon 37

Hoyle's Booh of Games 1 or 2 ...25

Hoyies Booh of Games 3 32

Indiana JonesiFate of Atlantlt.AO
Indy Joneslast Cnjsade VGA ....29

Ishido' 34

James Bond 007:Stealiti Affair .35

Jet Fighter II 42

Kampfgruppe ......37

mikgCload 32

King's OuestV 38

Knights of the Sky 37

Kosliar\ Conipfracjr 34

L' Empereur 37

Laffcr utilities 25

Land, Sea All TrilogyS 43

Leather Goddesses Ptlottos2...li3

Leisure Larry 1 VGA 37

Leisure Lany 3.,... 37

Leisure Lan^ 5 37

Lemmings 34

Les Manley.Lost in L.A 25

Leiicross 30

RoboSpoil 37

Rocketeer */ Sound Source 32

Rocketeer: The Movie 22

Roller Coaster Construction Set. 32
Roller Coaster/Sound Source,,. .43

Kollerlitbes 27

Romance of Three Kingdoms 2. .43

Rommel , 25

Rules of Engagement 39

SargonS 32

Savage Empire 37

Scrabble Deluie 32

Sea Rogue 32

Search for tbe King 27

Secret of Monkey Island EGA 28

Secret of Monkey Island II 40

Secret of Monkey Island VGA 25

Secret Weapon Mission Disk 2. .22
Secret Weapons Mission Dsk 1.22

Secret Weapons of Luftwaffe 44

Second Front. 37

Sitadow of the Sorcerer 33

Shanghai 2:Dragon'5 Eye 32

Sharif on Bridge 37

Shuttle Space Rigit SimulalOf .-37

Siege 40

Silent Service II 37

Sim Ant 37

Sim City 30

Sim City for Winitows 37

Sim City GraptiiciAjicient Cities. .24
Sm City Graphic:Fulure Cities .. .24

Sm City Terrain Editor 19

Sim Earth 41

Sim Earth (or Windows 43

Sleeping Gods Lie „.„ ...32

Space Ace 2: Borf s Hewnge ....37

Space Ace 37

Space Quest 4 .„.,37

Space Wrecked 32

Spsedlaffi 27

Spetlcasling 101 37

Speiicasling 201 43

Spint of Eicalibur 32

Stanford Wong's Video Poker ....32

Star Control 3;

Star Trek 25fh Anniversary 3 '

Start1i^t2.. 23

Stratego 32

Strike Comnwn*r, 47

Stria Poker 3 33 I

Sujnls 32 I

Super Jeopanly 27 I

Super Space Imadets 27 I

Super Telris 32 I

Swap 32'

Tales of Magic 40

Team Yankee 37

Terminator 34

TesiDfiwa 35

Tetn's 24

TTie CodJiHwr 32

The Immortal 22

Ttiundertiawk 32

TimeOuest 37

Top GuniDanget Zone 32

Tra:on 2 for Windows 47

Tra;on 2:Ajr Traffic Control er ...43
Treasures of Savage Frontier, ..S'i

Tnjmp Castle 2 32

TurtlesiArcade Game 32

Turtles;Manhattan Missions 32

Twilight 2000 VGA 37

Ultimae 40

Ultima 7 47

Uffma.'Siygfan ^lli/ss 47

Ultima Trilogy 37

mima Trilogy 2 47

VMSIiPtamtEilltor 32

UMS 11:. Nations at War 37

Uxharted Waters 43

Design Your Own Railroad 37

Dick Tracy Pnnt Kit 17

Dick Tracy w/ Sound Source 27

Dog Eat Dog World 32

Dog Eat Dog/Sound Source 43

Dragon Wars 32

Dragon's Lair it: Timewarp 43

Dragon's Lair: Singe's Castle , ...37

Duck Tales:3uest for Gold 19

Elite Plus 29

Elvira 34

Elvira ILJaws of Cerbertis 40

Eye of tJie Beholder 2 40

F-15 II Scenario Disk 20

F-IS Strike Eagle II 34

F-19 Stealth Rghter.,... 43

F-29 RetaiialOr 33

Falcon 3.0 47

Rames of Freedom , 32

fi:gnt of the Intruder 37

FreeD.C 37

Games People Play 29

Gateway to Savage Fronlier 33

LHX Attack Chopper 28

Liberty or Death 37

Life & Death 24

yfe i Death ILThe Brain 27

UgMCorrUor 32

LfeMOlteji 34

Loom 23

Lord of the Rings 34

lonfoffheRfn^Sff 37

Lost Admiral 37

Lost rressures oflnfoccin 43

Mac Arthur's War 32

Magic Candle 2 40

Mantls:Experirj]antal Filter , ...37

Matrix Cutjed 34

Medieval Lords 39

MegaFortress: Rigttt of Old Dog.40
MegaFortre5s;Mission Disk 2. ...27

MegaTraveller 11 37

Mickey a Minnie's Print Kit 17

Mickey's Crossword Punle 32

Mickey's Jigsaw Puale 32

Vaxirie 26

Vengeance of Excalibur , 22

VetiB 33

Volfied 27

Warlords 29

Western Front 37

Wf>eei of Fortune w/Vanna 27

Where America's Past Camien ..37

Where in EurotJe isCannen 32

Where in Time is Camien 32

Where in USA is Camien 32

Wlwre in World is Camnen 32

Where in World is Carmen VGA ..48

While Death 32

mdWImels 34

Wing 2 Special Operations 1 27

Wing 2 Special Operations 2 27

Wing Comra Mission Dish 1 22

Wing Comm Missions Disk 2 22

Wing Commander 2 47

Wing Commander 2 Speech Pakl7

Wng Commander 39

Wing Commander f)elux0 47

WofdTns 30

Worlds at War 32

Wrath of the Demon 32

number Munchers 32

Oregon Trail 32

OutNumbered 32

Operation Neptune. .*.,.. .,,..,37

Playroom 32

PC Globe V4 41

PC U.5.A. 2.0 41

Read i Roll VQA. 32

Reader RabWi 2 37

Reading i Me 32

Spellbound 32

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Call us and use your MC, Visa or Discover

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School, State & City purchase orders accepted.

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Send money o/ders or checks to: MISSION CONTROL.

43 Warren St., Dept. COM 592, Nev^ York, NY 10(X)7

Please send $2.00 for catalogue (free with order)

Overseas & Milltaiy Orders given special attention!

Circle Ruder Servtce Number 174

4DBoiing 22

ASC'S Wide World or Boiing 32

ISC Sports Winter Garr-ies 34

All American College Football ....37

Andrew's Fiacine Challenge 22

Bill Elliot's Nasi:ar Challenge 32

Bo Jackson Baseball , 32

Catitomia Games 11 27

CariDtlmr 40

Celtic Legends 34

Days of Thunder 25

Dream Team 32

Games;Winter Challenge 35

Hardball3 37

Jack Nicklaus Golf Unlintited ....37

Jack NIcklaiisiSignatiim Ed. 43

Jim.Tiy Connors Pro Tennis 33

Links: The Challenge of Goll 37

Links: Bayhili Course Disk 18

Links:Boontifiil Course Disk 18

Llnks:Dorado Beach Course 18

Unks:Rrestohe Course Disk 18

Links: Barton Creek Course IS

Manager's Challenge BaseOsil ,.31

MicroLeague Football Delude 42

Mike Ditka Football 34

NCAA:Road 10 Rnai Four 35

Wl Pro League Football 47

Over the NetiVolleytell 25

Personal Pro Golf 27

PGACommemoratfve Edition 46

PGA Course Disk ,,.19

PGA Tour Golf 32

Playmakef Football 32

Pro Foottiali Analyst 37

TeamSuniki 27

Tony La Rossa AL Stadium 15

Tony La Bussa Teams 1901-6S 15

Tony La Russa NL Stadium 15

Tony La Russa Baseball 32

Wea\er Easehall 2 32

V^ayne G'euky Hockey 2 „ ,..34

Wayne G-etiky2 Canada's Cup 35

Hockey League Simulator 26

World Class Soccer 27

EDUCATIONAL

erPl^s 32

Challenge ot Ancient Empire ....32

Donald's Alphabet Chase 14

Geo Jigsaw 27

Sooty's Railway Express 14

jramma- Gremlins .......32

Headline Harry EGA 32

Headline Harry VGA 37

KidPix 37

^ath Blaster Mystery 32

^sth Blaster Plus 32

tohfiasbil 27

f'si23 27

lickey'sABC 27

lickey's Colors & Shapes 27

tickey's Runaway Zoo... 14

Midnight Resi:ue 32

ligel'sWorld 32

Spell H Plus Talking 32

Super Spell (copter 27

Super Munchefs. 32

Hiink Quick 32

Treasure Mountain ,.,32

TreeHouse 37

mats My Angle 32

WordMunchers 32

Writer RabOit .,32

Wmmg/Publishing Center. 42

PRODUCTIVITY

Advanced Mall Ust ,...32

Animation Studio., ,.,,79

AccuWeathe: 34

AutoMap 57

Bannemiania 25

Bodyworks 47

Dream House Professional. „„.„48

Dvorak on Typing 32

Dvorek'sTopSO 37

Floor Plan .,.32

FloofPlan Plus -...47

Estimator Plus 49

J.K. Lasser's lr>comeTa)( ,.,,47

Legal Letter Works 47

Letter Works 47

Lottery Gold , .,.,,,32

Mavis Beacon 2 Windows 40

Mavis Beacon Tyiiing 2 34

Orbits , 37

Pacioli2000 , 29

PrintshopNew 38

Sales Letter Wortis 47

Speed fieader fa Windows 32

U.S.Atlas 39

U.S. Atlas for Windows 54

SOUNDCARDS

Ad Lib Card (Micro Channel) . ...139

Ad Ub Gold 1000 199

SoundBlaster 129

Sound Blaster Pro 209

JOYSTICKS

GameponAuioCH Froducis S-i

Gameport(Mi:roChannl)byCH .48

2400 band Internal Modem. 69

2400 baud External Modem 79

Icontfoller ior PC 49

lconU'o!lerforL3ptops...............69

Computer Vacutm Kit..... 25

Computer Cleaning & Vacuum ...35

Fieiit Stick by CH Products 42

G Force Yoke 49

Gravis Joystick tor PC 39

HKtiillbyCHProdLtcts 33

Merltn : 24

^ot resporJS'We fcf tj^mgraphical
enws.Cfied* compaibilrty belora onlenng.
All Saiss.F:nai Prces sjbjflct to CHaftge
ivTthOLJlrKiSjce. Mo returns wll be cikJiTih)
withoul a Reiutn Aulhon^aiion Nijm.bef,

REVIEWS

to add more light to an im-
age but not winy you might
want to mal<e such a
change. Nor were there any
tips on how you could maxi-
mize Tempra to get the
best picture. That's not the
Howtek folks' fault. The man-
ual concerning the hard-
ware was complete, clear,
and easy to read.

There aren't many adjust-
ments you can make. That's
good for someone like me.
The areas I focused on includ-
ed the color saturation for
red, green, and blue; overall
light exposure; scan area;
and sharpness. Soon I go! a
feel for which settings were
best for different kinds of im-
ages. I found it easier and
easier to get close on the
first scan.

Tempra saves in just
about every kind of file for-
mat you can imagine, but I
was only interested in PCX
and GIF. The saved files load-
ed easily into other pro-
grams, a welcome situation
after the file-incompatibility
problems I've had with some
software.

I scanned about 50 official
NASA photos and transparen-
cies, among other things. Not
only did the scanner work re-
markably well with transparen-
cies, but the quality was as-
tounding in 640 X 480 VGA
with 256 colors. I went down
to 320 X 200 VGA with 256 col-
ors to see how it did. Consid-
ering the low resolution, it
wasn't bad.

All of these images can
be found on COMPUTE/NET
on GEnie and America On-
line. If you want to see for
yourself what this scanner
can do, log on to GEnie or
America Online and use the
keyword COMPUTE to find
COMPUTE/NET Then, call
up a directory of the COM-
PUTE's Art Gallery section of
our software library. Down-
load several images and use

108 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

Improved menus are one of many reasons why PC-Write Standard
Level 2.0 remains a wonder of a word-processing package.

VPIC or another program to
view them; you'll be sur-
prised at what you see.

If I had the budget to buy
this scanner I would. If you're
looking for a quality piece of
equipment for professional re-
sults, look to the Howtek Per-
sonal Color Scanner

RICHARD C. LEINECKER

Howtek Personal Color Scanner-
Si. 295

HOWTEK

21 Park Ave.

Hudson. NH 03051

(603) 882-5200

Circle Reader Service Number 369

PC-WRITE
STANDARD
LEVEL 2.0

In an era in which WordPer-
fect straddles the world like
the Colossus at Rhodes, you
might wonder why other
word-processing compa-
nies even make the effort.
To its credit, Quicksoft has
steadily made the effort
since 1983, maintaining PC-
Write's position as probably
the best piece of word-proc-
essing shareware available.
Loyai users of PC-Write can
now celebrate Quicksoft's re-

lease of PC-Write Standard
Level 2.0, a word processor
that preserves most of its ear-
lier incarnations' familiar fea-
tures while adding enough
new goodies to make this
one definitely worth check-
ing out.

PC-Write Standard is a
shareware product rich in
the features that most peo-
ple expect in a retail word-
processing package: easy-
to-learn editing commands,
automatic spell checking,
plentiful help screens, easily
changed document format,
a variety of fonts and effects,
word counting, automatic
pagination, and the like.
You'll also appreciate such at-
tractions as automatic place-
fflient and numbering of foot-
notes and endnotes, as well
as file merging for personal-
ized form letters, invoices,
and mailing labels. Veteran
users of PC-Write are al-
ready familiar with these fea-
tures and will find that the es-
sential commands haven't
changed in Standard Level
2.0. But they'll be delighted
by its addition of pull-down
menus which duplicate—
and in some cases speed
up — the familiar PC-Write key-
stroke commands. Such

things as margins, spacing,
and fonts (a lot of the old Alt-
G commands that required re-
course to the manual or the
help screens) are now quick-
ly altered via the menus. In
fact, one of PC-Write's strong-
est features is its ease of
adaptability. Although dur-
ing installation you're asked
to choose which of the three
levels you'd like to use
(Core, Basic, or Standard),
the levels can be changed at
any time. Within each level,
you can readily choose or re-
ject individual features to con-
figure PC-Write to your par-
ticular needs.

Quicksoft knows PC-Write
isn't the only word processor
you'll deal with. Older ver-
sions of PC-Write allowed
you to convert files to and
from WordStar format; in PC-
Write Standard Level 2.0, con-
version to and from WordPer-
fect is available, as is conver-
sion from PC-Write's own ear-
lier versions or any other AS-
Cll file or word processor
that supports IBM's Docu-
ment Content Architecture.
The company wants to make
sure that you know how to
use the program: Besides
the PC-Write Tutorial printed
out during the installation
process, an online tutorial is
available, along with a large
number of detailed help
screens. Registered users of
PC-Write will receive the book-
let Getting Started, a primer
in PC-Write's basic func-
tions, as well as the Refer-
ence Manual, which de-
scribes how to use all of the
program's features. (Warn-
ing: Beware of a frustration-
causing misprint in step 3 of
"Merging" on page 78; the S
doesn't belong in the se-
quence.) Also available to
registered users is Quick-
soft's helpful technical sup-
port line. As a further induce-
ment to do the right thing
and register your copy. Quick-

SUBSCRIBE TO

Strategy

800 - 283 - 3542

HONEST REVIEWS
TIMELY PREVIEWS
CUTTING EDGE DESIGN NOTES
DETAILED GAMING HINTS
IN-DEPTH STRATEGIC ADVICE

Strategy Pius writers are hardcore gamers who give their
lionest opinion of games they have played for days. As
soon as the information on Patriot and A-Train is available,
we give you the previews. Game designers like Chris
Crawford of Patton Strikes Back, Dan Bunten of Command
HQ, Bruce Shelley of Civilization, and others, bring you up
to date as the design process unfolds. They share their
design decisions with you, what's in the game, what might
be in the game and what's been excluded. After the
previews, design articles, and reviews we give you detailed
game hints and complete walkthroughs for games like Eye
of the Beholder 2 and Might and Magic 3. The Perfect
General, Civilization, Railroad Tycoon and other games like
them, get coverage with in-depth strategic advice. Strategy
Plus includes previews, reviews, design articles, and in-
depth play advice for the newest IBM, Macintosh, and
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processing ,Vlsa or Mastercard accepted. Call 800-283-3542

circle Reader Service Number 129

Help for the most important
investment decision you
will ever make.

Finally, a software package
dedicated to buying or renting a
home. Just answer plain-English
questions about your finances, and
Buying \our Home™ does the rest!
In estimates your household budget,
savings, and income taxes for ten
years. It even shows if you'd be
better off renting for now.

Buying Your Home won't confuse
you with complicated financial
concepts. Its innovative "Help
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Plus, three case studies teach you
the fundamentals of home buying.
So you don't need a Harvard MBA.

Use Buying Your Home to evaluate:

Rent vs. Purchase

Household Budget and Cash Flow

Fixed vs. Adjustable Mongages

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and much more!

A,
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For more inprmathn, call

Home Equity Software, Inc.

(415) 967-4965

Circle Reader Service Number 259

AMGAZINE

ALIVE ON YOUR
PC OR MAC!

Try the New ONLINE SERVICE of PENTHOUSE MAGAZINE.

It's incredible! You can finally use your computer for

sometfiing tfiat you will truly enjoy DOWNLOAD beautiful color

innages of Pentfiouse Pets and special guests from

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TO GET YOUR COPY OF OUR SOFTWARE,
AND INFORMATION ON HOW TO ACCESS THE SYSTEM IN YOUR AREA,

USE YOUR MODEM
(set to 8-N-1 1 TO DIAL:

1-212-254-3838

(PETLINE can be accessed from anywhere in North America

and in 23 foreign countries. 1200/2400 baud,

mouse support, graphics display requires 256-color VGA.

MS-DOS and MAC available)

soft offers registered users a disk con-
taining Rogets Thesaurus {not availa-
ble in the stiareware release), a service-
able online reference that can be ac-
cessed from the PC-Write menu.

Though PC-Write Standard Level 2.0
is available at some retail softv^^are and
computer shops, the shareware con-
cept has helped make it what it is; a
wonder of a word-processing package
that can be registered for only $129
and takes up only 1.5MB on a hard
drive. For a greater wonder, it's one
you can try out for free.

ANTHONY MOSES

!BM PC and compatibles. 348K RAM; tiard drive
recommended . mouse supported— SI 29, upgrade
for registered users— $99

QUICKSOFT

219 First Ave, N #224

Sealtle. WA 98108

(800) 888-8088

(206) 282-0452

Circle Reader Service Number 370

RELISYSTEFAXRA-2125

On the one hand, it looks like a fax ma-
chine, rings like a fax machine, and al-
lows you to transmit and receive physi-
cal copies of documents and graphic
images like a fax machine. On the oth-
er hand, it lets you receive faxes on
your hard drive and print them on your
computer's printer, modify faxes you're
sending or receiving on your monitor
screen, and create your own fax docu-
ments by typing them yourself or by im-
porting text or graphic images from oth-
er programs. So what is it? A fax ma-
chine or a fax/modem board with accom-
panying software?

It's both. With the TEFAX RA-2125,
Relisys has captured the best of two
worlds. You get the convenience of a
full-featured fax machine, eliminating
the need to buy a scanner and a fax/
modem board that must be installed in-
side your PC. But you don't lose the flex-
ibility in editing and printing faxes that
a fax/modem board provides. Plus it's
easy to install, with the machine connect-
ing to your PC's serial port via a cable
included in the package.

Although the TEFAX RA-2125 doesn't
completely eliminate physical bulk the
way a fax/modem board does, it's still a
relatively compact machine. It's also pow-
erful. Even if you don't use the AutoFax
software, the TEFAX RA-2125 can still
store 100 quick-dial phone numbers and
10 one-button numbers, transmit and re-
ceive ready-to-go faxes, send faxes au-
tomatically at specified times, poll one or
more other machines for faxes needed,
and copy documents instantly.

Entering a phone list and other infor-
mation can be awfully time-consuming
on the TEFAX RA-2125, but the AutoFax

110 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

CHIPS&BITS GAMES FOR LESS CALL 800 753 GAME

IBM WARGAMES

Ham Slafons S29

Actoin Staiiocis Seen 1 S11

AlliM Forces Bundle S39

Amsr Cwl War 1 . 3 Ea S22

Battles at Napoleon S32

Bismajit S42

BIS2tineg Aidennes S29

Bravo Romeo Delta S37

Campaign 529

Carriers at Wa; S37

\^^-^

ISM STRATCGY

FireTeam2200 S29

FireTeam Const Kit S25

Fort AjHche S34

Gkltial Conquest SIS

Gold of the Amencas S12

KoshanCortspifacy £32

Lemminjs KB

Lemmings Data Otsh E19

L'Empereur S37

Liberty or Death S37

/•"

m'-

M N 0 I A K A
JOHESiTHE
FATE OF

ATLANTIS' IS Ihe
4!tilnd/jDnss ad-
venture. Agajn, rt
islndyvsNaosas
helrieslourroVBi
Ihe secreis o!
Atlantis. Vsl Ice-
land. Monie CarV),
Africa, i Crete
Features 200 loca
lions, great anima-
tion. interactive
sound. & mouse
support. $38

Charge Lighi Bngade S34

Cml Vis SSI S42

Cohort SJ»

Conflict: Middfe East S37

Conflict in Vietnam St2

Decision at Gettysburg S29

Dreadnoughts S42
Dread no lights S<:enahosS29

Rre Brigade S34

GEN QTRS GAMES S24

Gelty5t}urg:Tuming Pnl 537

Halls Of Montezuma 524

Harpoon 525

Harpoon Set 2 or 3 519

Harpoon Set 4 524
Harpoon Challenger PakS54

Kamtitgnjppe 537

MacAnhurs War 529

Panzer Battles 522

Patriot 536

Patriot Battle Sets Ea S24

Patton Strikes Bach S37

Red Lightning 512

Ronimel North Africa 524

Rofko's Drift S34

Second Front 537

SIM CAN GAMES 536

Storm Aaoss Europe 512

Third Reich £27

Typhoon of SlesI 512

UMS 2 519

UMS2 Civil War 524

UMS 2 Desen Storm 520

UM3 2 Planet Editor £28

V for Victory 538

WatorkM 512

Western Front 537

White Death 529

IBM STRATEGY

Armada 2525 532

Batll! Isle 532

Breach 2 Enhanced 519

Lost Admiral $34

Lost Admiral Enhanced £3S

Lost Admiral Scenario $23

Medieval Lords £37

MerchantCdony $34

Nobuna9alor2 $37

Nuclear War $12

Operation Combat $1S

Pacific Theater of Oper £42

Perfecl General $34

Perleci General Osk 2 $23

Populous 2 $38

IBM ADVENTURE

Admis WIlie Beamish S34

Colonel Bequest 2 534

ConquestsofLongbow £34

Conspiracy Deadlock £34

Countdown S37

Covert Action £29

Cnjise for a Corpse £34

Oe|aVu2LostinLV Sf2

DontGoAJone £12

Eai Quest 1 534

Fstony SI2

Free DC SH

Gaieway £36

Geisha S32

GoCtathsr £32

Hartey Davidson £12

Heart ol China S34

Hostage £I2

Jndy Jones LCrsdvga S27

Indy Jones Fate Adatiiis S58

King's Ouesi 1 Enhncd £34

King's Quest 2 or 3 528

King's Quest 4 £34

King's Quest 5 vga 539

LeatherGoddessesS 542

Leisure Suit Lrry 1 vga S34

Leisure Suit Lrry 2. 3, 5 Si:

LeisuTB Suit Lrry Bundle S39

Loom £19

Lost in LA £37

Lost Treasures Inlocoffl £42

Magnetic Scrolls Bndl £34

Martian Memorandum £37

Mulder by the Dozen £15

Out ol this World £36
Plan 9 from Oiler S()ace531

Police Quest 1 £28

Polico Quest 2 or 3 £34

Rise of the Dragon 534

SecrtMonkylsIhdtvga £23

IBM SPORTS
LHHoaey
LH Pro Basketball
LH Tea.li Osks
LH League Leaders
LH Uliliry Disks
ynksGoU
Links Golf WIN
Unks Course 1 -5 Ea
.Madden Football
Madden Football 2

IBM TRADITIONAL

£30 Femmes Faiale Disk 518

530 GO Waster 5 DIJ 5109

SIS GO Master 5 Dli WIN £109

515 GO Master 534

515 GO Master 5 DOSWIN $39

S57 GOMassarSTooM £39

$39 Grand Slam Bndge $22

$17 Hoylfl Boot! Games lot2$2l

£21 Hoyle Book Games 3 529

£32 Jeopardy Silver Editksn $15

Mag^ Johnson Fs: Brti $ 6 Uonopot/ £24

Maho Andretti Racing 517 Omar Shartl on Brkige $37

MLBasbllWngr'sChllng$24 PenlhouseJgsaw $24

ML World Series Disks $17 Risk $24

MLTDt9a2-l990 Ea $17 Risk WIN $29

ML All Stars $17 Scrabble Oeiuje £34

ML Franchise Disks Ea £20 Shanghai 2 £31

Mtooieague Basketball £28 Straiego $31

ML Personal Pro Golf £28 Stnp Poker 3 £31

ML Football Deluie £39 Strip Poker Data1-5Ea$19

ML Ftball Team Disks $17 Trump Castle 2 £32

Michael Jordan Fit Sm £44 VOeo Poker IX)SW1N £34

Mike Dilka Football $34 Wheel ol Fortune Gold $15

IBU HARDWARE
Ad Ub Sound Card £64
Ad Ub Gold 1000 5179
AdSb Surround Sound £64
Adtib Telephone Module S64
Ad Lib Speakers 515

Flighl Stick 543

Fi^hi Slick « Fakan 546
SoundBlaster $109

Sound Blaster Pro 5189
Snd Blaster Speakers 515
Thmstmaster Joystick 569
Thnjstmstr Pro JoystickSI K
Thnistmslr Weapn Cnlrl 579
Thunder Board SndBrd S84
Thunder Board Spkis 515

IBM ROLE PLAYING
Hero's Quest 2 or 3 5 34
Hypet^peed S34

Immortal 517

Legacy oINecramancer S29
Lord of the Rings 1 £34
LordoftheRin952 £37
Loremaster 539

Lure of the Temptress 537
Magic Candle 1 £12

Wagic Candle 2 537

Matiin Cubed 532

Mechwarrior S34

Megatraveller 1 S'i6

Wegatiaveller 2 519

Megatraveller 3 539

flights Magic lor 2 512
Might & Magic 3 537

Might S Magic 4 £42

Pirates 5 9

Planet's Edge S37

Sea Rogue 539

Sentinel Worlds S15

Sleeping Gods Lie 529
Space 1889 516

IBM SIMULATION

Fi5SinkeEagle3

£44

WC20pcraiori5lor2 $27

F19 Stealth F^hter

$24

WC2SpeachPack

£15

F22 ATF

$39

Wolfpack

$15

Falcon 3.0

$42

Yeager's Air Combai

53B

Flight Simulator 4 0

£39

HINT BOOKS

Fly Grand Canyon 3D

545

ADSD HINTBOOKS

510

Gunship

$12

Ba-d'sTale1-3Ea

SIO

Gunship2000

£39

Buck Rogers 1 or 2

$10

Harner Combai Sim

Civilization

$16

Herosoltne357ih

$32

EMra 1 or 2

sto

ACES OF THE
PACinCbringstf
the action ol the
War in the Pacitc
10 your PC. Fly Ihe
A6M Zero. F41J
Corsair. F6F
Hellcat, and macy
more. Includes
single mission or
campaign play for
eitherside, legend-
ary aces to Tight, a
poi^erful mission
recorder, and an
extensive 240 page
manual. $39

Hypempeed

£34

Jet Fighter 2.0

KnghtsollJieSky

$29

Land. Sea i Air tors

£39

Lite S Death 1or2

$23

Ml Tank Platoon

534

Mantis Eipmintl Fghir

£34

Megalonress

£37

Megafrtrss Mssn 1 or 2

S27

Red Baron VGA

£36

Red Baron Mssn 1 or 2

524

Red Storm Rising

£12

$60 WonJtns

IBMAD&D

$29

Power Monger £34

Power Monger WW1 £21

Railroad Tycoon £34

Rampart £27

flaalms $29
Renegade Legion IntfcplSt 2

Revolution 76 £29

flomanc3Kngdmlor2 £42

Rules of Engagemeni £37

Second Conflict £34

Siege £38

Sim Am $37

The •THUNDER

BOARD' IS asound
■board that IS 100%
■ compaiibie with

Soundblasier and
J Adiib. Itreproduces
'digitized sounds

using an 8 bit DAC.

Features include
5 dynamic filtering

11 Voice FM music
: synthesizer, sam-
|pling rale up to 22

KHz, microphone

input, joystick port.

Bleach 2 Scenano Disk £15

SimCily

$29

Casltes

£36

SimCity Graphic 1 ot 2

523

Castles Disk 1

519

SimEarth

S41

Civilization

£39

Star Control 2

£37

ComrnandHO

£19

Sladleet 1 or 2

S38

Conquered Kingdoms

£36

Theatre ol Wat

$32

Crisis m the Kremlin

537

Traders

$29

Dune

£29

Uiopia

$31

Empre

£31

Visions ol AltemtaSh

£12

Empre Deluiie

£42

Warlords

$29

Final Conliicl

£34

Worlds at War

$29

SecrtMonkylslnd2 £38

Sex Olympics £24

Sex Vixens from Space $12
Siera Adventtire Bundle $39

Space Quest 2 529

SpaceQuestt.3or4 $34

Space Quest Bundle $39

SpeilcaslinglOl $19

Speifcastingeot 536

StartrekS $12

Staitrek 25lh Aniversry 536

Time Quest $19

Train 5 6

Uninvited S12
Where Amrcas PsI CSD 537
Where Europ, USA, !im6£30

Where World CSO £27

Where Workt CSD Dll £49

IBM SPORTS

4DBoj(ing Si7

4th S Inches 512

ABC Boning 532
All American College Fb 536

APBA Baseball 528

APBA 1908 - 91 Ea 521

APBA Basketball 528

APBA Bowling 519

APBA Football 549

APBA Micro Manager 532

Bo Jackson Baseball 532

Games Winter Chling 534

Greens £34

Grelsky Hockey 2 £34

GretskyLeagug S2G

Hardbal!2 £28

Hardball 3 £34

JohnElway'sQB £6

LH 3 in 1 Football 530

LH Boxing £30

LH College Basketball $30

LH Full Count Baseball $30

NFL Challenge

NFL 1M4- 1987 Ea $15

NFL 1988- 1991 Ea $22 AD&D Bundle $38

NFLPrdeague Football $24 Champions oIKiynn 520

Nicklaus Signature Edit $42 Curse ol Azure Bonds $15

Nicklaus SE Clip Art £24 Dark Queen of Kr^n $32

Nckfaus Uhfimrted Golf £29 Death Knights of Krynn S19

Ncklaus Greatest fB $27 DragonSfrike $12

NG Clip Art $17 Dragons of Flame $12

NGCour5e1,23,4,orS$15 Eye of the BehokJer £32

Pete Rose Basebaff $9 Eye of the Behokter 2 S3a

PGA Tour Golf $32 Gateway Savge Fronir 532

PGA Tour Golf WIN £32 Heroes ot the Lance $12

PGA Tour Golt Disk 1 £17 Pool of Dartuiess $38

PGA Tour Go!l Lid Edt 545 Pool Of Radiance 515

Pro Football Analyst £34 Secret ot Silver Blades $32

Pro Tennis Tour 2 $32 Shadow Sorcerer $32

Road to the Final Four $37 Treasurs Savage Frontr £32

ReelFish'n £12 War ol the Lance 5 9

Tom Landry Football $29 IBM HOLE PUYING

Tony LaRussa Basebll £32 Ba/d'sTale2 519

T LaR Fantasy Managr $15 Bard's Tale 3 $31

T LaRussa Stadiums £15 Bard's Tale Cnslrctn SI £24

TLaRT8ams1901-68 £15 BattlBtech2 £31

Weaver Baseball 2.0 £32 Buck Rogers 1 515

Weaver Commisnr 2.0 £21 Buck Rogers Z £32

Weaver2.0199OTeams£l6 CaptainSlood $9

Weavet2.0CommEdt $56 Captive £30

WofB Class Soccer £28 Celtic Legends 532

WORLD WAR II
BAnLE SET lor

the Perfect
Generalincludes
Ithe fotowing sce-
narios: Pegasus
Bridge, Sicily,
Guadalcanal,
Kasserine Pass,
Gafsa,Anzio,Lltah
Beach, Omaha
Beach, Okinawa,
Saipan,Gazata-Bir
Hachelm, [wo
J ma, Arnheim,
Oahu, and

Kharkov. £23

Harpoon Battlebook £19

Incy Jones LstCrsade £10

Infly Jones Fate ABantis £10

Loom £10

Lord of the Rings lor 2 £10

Magic Candle 1 or 2 £10

Manian Dreams £13

Mathx Cubed £10

Might & Magic 3 £16

Planet's Edge £16

Pooulous1&2DlliclSir £16

Power Monger £10

Quest lor Clues 2, 3or4 £21

Railroad Tycoon £10

Savage Empire $10
SecretMnkylslhdtor2£10

SIERRA HINTBOOKS £10

Siraaty/Simearth SSO

Starfiight 1 or 2 $10

Strategy Plus 3 -11 Ea S 8

Strategy Plus 12-18 $5

Ultima 4. 7 Ea $10

Wizardry 6 Cosmic Frg $12

Wizardry 7 Cmsade $12

Yeager's Air Combat $19

'APBA BASE-
BALL' includes all
ot the professional
baseball leatures
you might want.
Start your own
league, dralt your
own leams. or play
with the actual ros-
ters. Unlimited
number ot teams,
adjustable difficulty
level, more thanSO
player ratings, and
instant replay. In-
cludes the newest
seasondisk. $26

IBM TRADITIONAL

Amanlfo Slim Poker $15
Bailie Chess WIN $29
Blackjack DOSWIN $34
Centerfold Squares $21
Check Mate DOS-WIN $36
ChessmasterSOOO $32
Chessnaster 3000 WIN $36
Dealers Choice Poker $34
EdwrdOThtpBtekJck $29
Femmes Fatale $28

Champions $37

CHARACTR EDITORS $16
Conan £29

Cyber Space $29

DarWands £39

Drakkhen $37

Dusk of the Gods $38

Elvira 1 Mistress Dark $34
Elvira 2 Jaws Cerbems $42
Fire King $19

Rames of Freedom $28

Space Inc £34

Spellbound £39

Starfiight lot 2 519

Sword ol ^e Samurai 5 9
Swrd Samral S Pirates £16
Tales Magic: Prophcy S £38
Third Courier 5 9

Twilight 2000 £34

Uttima Martian Dreams £37
Ultima Savage Empire £34
Ullima Trilogy £35

Ultima Tnlogy 2 £45

Ultima 1-6 Bundle CD 559
Ultima 4 or 5 $35

UltimaB False Prophet £39
Ullima 7 Black Gate £45
Ultima Stygian Abyss £48
UnchanedWaiers $42
Wizardry Trilogy £32

Wizardry 4 $19

Wizardry 5 $32

Wizardry 5 Cosmic Frg $37
WizanJry 7 Crusaders $39

IBM SIMULATION
A10 Avenger $43

Aces ol the Pacific $39
Aces Pacilii: Mssn lor 2527
Acesover Europe $42
Aces Europe Mssn 1 or 2527
ATP $37

B17 Flying Fortress 539
Battlefield 2000 $37

Buzz Aldrin Race Spc $37
Design yr own Railroad 529
Dynamics Bundle £39

Elite Plus $19

Eye of the Storm 529

F117ANighlhawk S42
F14 Tomcat S26

Fl 5 Strike Eagle 2 £19
F15SE2 Scenario Disk $17

Sailing Simuiaioi $39

Sailing Sim Voyages Ea$34
Secret Weapons Lftwif $44
SWe^n5Expi-4 $21
Shuttle $34

Silent Service 2 $34

Sthke Commander $45
Tank $37

Team Yankee $34

Team Yankee 2 $29

Test Drive 2: Collection $34
Test Drive 3 $32

CHIPS & BUS

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Fax 802-767-3382

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GEnie Keyword CHIPS

We accept Visa, MC SMoney
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Held 4 Weeks. Most Items
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UPS $4: 2 Day Air £6: Wail 55:
Airmail Canada$6: HI, AK, PR,

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T03 Road & Car Disk

TFH i BH1942

Thunderhawk

Top Gun Danger Zone

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Virtual Reality Studio

Wing Commander 1

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wet Bundle

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$39 Shipping limes not

$34 giiaranleed. Defectives

$19 replaceij with same product,

$45 Price & availabiiity subject

$45 to change.

Circis Reader Service Number 149

Sending Your Computer to Medical
School ..... Helps You Stay Healthy!

Is that indigestion ... or a tieart attack? Doctor Schueler's Home
Medicai Advisor gives you an enormous amount of accurate med-
ical information wittn a few keystrol<es. Developed by Board Certified
Emergency Pfiysicians and currently used in doctors' offices.

Ttie Symptom File's question and answer format generates over 600
illustrations and 450 diagnoses.

The Disease File gives info about the symptoms and treatment of over
450 diseases. Know EXACTLY which specialist treats your problem.

Learn how to treat over 130 injuries with the Injury File, everything
from frostbite to ankle sprains.

Identify and learn the side effects of over 800 prescription and over-the-
counter drugs with the Drug File.

Included are a Test File of medical tests and a Poison File listing house-
hold ingestions— great for mothers with toddlers. Registered users will
be eligible for updates at a cost of five dollars, so YOUR medical ency-
clopedia NEVER goes out of date. Call now. This indispensable refer-
ence tool prints medical information for family and friends and makes
learning FUN!

introductory offer: $69.95512kramega/vqa

Same Day Shipping! ' ^ °'^''^''

See your software dealer or call 1-800-788-2099

PIXEL PERFECT, INC.

10460 S. Tropical Tr.. Merritt Island. FL 32952

Circle Rosder Service Number 1

software helps — in this area
as well as others. While not
quite as clear and user-friend-
ly as some fax/modem soft-
ware— there are many differ-
ent layers, with varying
complementary features ac-
cessible only at certain lev-
els— AutoFax is a relatively
straightforward, efficient com-
munications tool. You need
a mouse to take full advan-
tage of its editing capabili-
ties, though.

By choosing items in a se-
ries of submenus of a main
menu that always stays at
the top of the AutoFax
screen, you can create your
own fax phone book, make
a cover sheet, and profound-
ly alter documents or graph-
ics files by changing their
size, position, or contents. Au-
toFax allows you to print out
faxes on either your comput-
er's printer or the fax ma-
chine itself and to receive
incoming faxes on the ma-
chine, your computer's hard
drive, or both. You view the
faxes on a rectangular box
that pops up in the middle of

112 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

the screen. Since the box is
wider horizontally than verti-
cally, it can be hard getting
a clear idea of what a fax
looks like as a whole without
making a printout, even after
using a helpful scaling func-
tion to reduce or enlarge it.
The manuals for both the
hardware and software offer
clear guidance, though the
booklet for the TEFAX RA-
2125 lacks an index and the
AutoFax manual has no trou-
bleshooting guide.

If you need more than ei-
ther a fax machine or a fax/
modem board has to offer,
the Relisys TEFAX RA-2125
may be what you're looking
for. It puts both technologies
together in one concentrated,
versatile package.

EDDIE HUFFMAN

IBM PC and compatibles. RS232 se-
rial port, mouse required for some
applications— $1,295

RELISYS

320 S, Milpitas Blvd.
MilDilas, CA 95035
(40B) 945-9000

Circle Reader Service Number 371

SCAN:ALIGN

It's touted as "the straight an-
swer to scanning," a descrip-
tion that's right on the mon-
ey. SCAN:ALIGN is a devilish-
ly simple device that makes
hand scanning a fast and ef-
ficient operation rather than
the tedious and frustrating
task it usually is when attempt-
ed freehand.

TheSCAN:ALIGNunitisa
plastic scanning "table"
measuring about 20 inches
long and TO inches wide.
The base table has a grid im-
printed on it for aligning the
material to be scanned. The
document to be scanned is
placed under a clear acetate
sheet covering the grid ta-
ble. A second sheet of rigid
plastic with the center re-
moved acts as the scanner
"track" and is hinged to the
bottom plastic table with the
acetate sheet sandwiched in
between.

Plastic templates which ac-
commodate more than 25 of
the most popular hand scan-
ners are provided. These tem-

plates glide along the track
like a sled between two rails.
The scanner fits into the
opening of the appropriate
template, which keeps it
aligned. The result is a truly
ingenious solution that dra-
matically increases the accu-
racy of hand scanning.

Using SCAN:ALIGN could
not be simpler. The text or
art to be scanned is placed
on the table and aligned
using the handy silk-
screened grid markings.
Next, the protective acetate
sheet is placed over the ma-
terial to protect it and keep
it from shifting position. The
track is lowered over the ac-
etate, and the correct scan-
ner template is placed be-
tween the two side rails of
the track. Then the scanner
is placed into the template's
receiver opening, and you're
ready to scan — that's a!
there is to it.

I found SCAN:ALIGN to
be a terrific aid when scan-
ning text material for OCR
(Optical Character Recogni-
tion) purposes. Additionally,

Advertisers Index

Header Service Number/Advertiser

Page Reader Sen/ice Number/Advertiser

254 64 Disk Connection G-17

162 a-Bit G-19

217 900 Saltware 129

14D Abracadala - 128

Ui Academic Guidance Services. Inc 134

213 Access Software 58,59

232 Accolade 79

146 Accolade 90,91

119 Accolade 101

134 Active Data 131

American Inslitutc of Compulof Science 11

240 Amperor USA 126

15S Antigrav Toolkit G-17

239 ATOP A-29

256 Axiom Sotare A-17

191 Bare Bones Software A-17

260 Best Personalized Books 127

173 Blue Valley Software 130

164 Bfown-Waoh Publishing 21

255 Bubeck Pyblisliing 130

2S5 Caloke Industries G-17

241 CanCor A-17

CD ROM Users Group 126

21B Cedar Software 131

149 Chips & Bits 111

166 Citizen Amarica Corporation 15

201 Commodore 29

187 ComPro Software Systems . , 131

150 Compsuit 133

181 Compsuit . , G-15

103 CompuSer/e 16,17

Computer Business Services -.133

184 Computer Direct 54,M

141 Computer Productions 134

178 Computer Stioppe o1 Aiabama G-17

137 Covox 128

125 Creative t^hs 3

120 DCS Industries 115

161 Delpfii 31

Oelptii Noetic A-1S

131 Demo Source 129

250 Diet Guidance fntl 125

135 Diskoveries 134

190 Diskoveries G-17

253 Disks 0 Plenty G-19

208 Disi(-Cflun; Software 132

17B D&K Enterprises 127

198 Ef^S Prolessiopat Stiareware 131

215 ESI A-17A-29

202 European Import Software A-29

235 Excel American/Hopper tnlediationat 9

111 FairbrotfiBTS A-21

136 Fashion World 130

179 Foxy Tec ,. A-17

115 GardenTecti 126

157 GEnie 93

252 Gordon & Associates 132

133 Gratlier Encyclopedia 5

251 Guy Spy (ReadySoll) S7

259 Home Equity Software Inc 110

203 Hunttey Ertarprises 126

Page Reader Service Number/Advertiser

Page

123 HypetDala A-29

216 ICD A-3

117 Impulse A-11

127 Inductive Logic ■. . . 133

105 Interplay 36

262 Interplay 97

Intuit IFC.I

160 IPD 132

107 izak Comp, Mlrtg 126

JP PBM Products by MaW G-17

223 KodeKiakr Lid G-17

244 Logitech 13

Longevity 99'

22Z Mahoney Software Products 130

214 Media Vision B3

180 Micrografx 53

237 MicroLeague Sports 105

197 f^icioMagic Prod 131

139 MicioMiga A-15

224 MicroProse 39

225 MicroProse 45

212 f^icroProse 43

156 MicroProse 41

175 Microsphere A-5

174 Mission Control .107

210 My Story Books 127

Nationai Discount Computer 129

199 Needham's Electronics 129

194 New Age Electronics G-!5

144 New World Computing 69

192 Origin 106

245 Pacilic Island 121

152 Pankhurst Programming G-17

106 Parth Galen A-23

177 PC CorapoNel 133

189 Penlon 123

1B9 Pixel Perfect 112

227 Piay it Again - 131

185 Poor Person Software A-21

193 Professional Casette 117

163 Psygnosis 67

Quality innovations . , 130

238 Quantum Quality ProrJuclions 51

186 Rio Computers G-5

143 Safesotl Systems tnc 134

112 Schoct of Computer Trairting 126

Scream Atarm 114

SearctiSlakes 35.38

116 SeXXy Software 133

154 Sierra DnLine BC

109 Smart Luck Soltware ' .... 130

126 Sotlshoppe 130

138 Soltware of the Month Club A-17

121 Soltware ol the Month Club 130

SOGWAP Software A-27,G-19

108 Spectrum HotoByle IBC

113 Star f^icronics 23

130 Slarviare 134

129 Strategy Plus 109

221 Superior Micro Systems G-19

204 Tectinology Link, Inc 133

CREDITS

Cover: Michel Tcherevkoff; page 4: Mark Wagoner; pages 6-7:
Joseph Drivas/lmage Bank; page 18: Mark Wagoner; page 33:
Mark Wagoner; pages 62-63: Jean-Francois Pod ev in/I mage Bank;
pages 72-73: Mark Wagoner; page 74: Uniphoto; pages 76-77:
Mark Wagoner; pages 84-85: Mark Wagoner; page 86: Michel
Tcherevkoff/lmage Bank; pages 88-89: Mark Wagoner; page 94:
Masahiro Sano/Stock Market; pages A-8-9: Dave Archer/Image
Bank; page A-32: Masahiro Sano/Stock Market; pages G-6-7: W, M,
Whitehurst/Stock Market; page S-1: courtesy of Fractal Design,

170 Tenex G-3

118 The Amish Outlaw Shareware Co 130

145 The Grapevine Group G-19

104 The Learning Company 27

257 The Vivid Group A-13

213 Thrifty-Disk 126

147 Thrustmastet 125

200 TriTech Sofhvare 126

195 Universai fvlemory 25

Video Projecls 37

206 Vidia A-23

167 Virgin Mastertronics 57

231 Virgin Mastertronics 103

183 Virgin Mastertronics 61

122 Virgin Mastertronics 75

159 VMC Sofhvare A-29

172 Wedgwood Computer 134

226 1/Viid Duck 12B

110 Zephyr Services 131

114 Zero's & One's 119

228 Zippenrare A-23

Amiga Resource Disk A-15

Amiga Resource/GEnie Online A-7

COMPUTE Best Utilities A-27

COMPUTE Books A-20,A-22, 1271 16,1 16

COMPUTE GEnie Online Sistems 47

COMPUTE/America Online 49

Gazette Disk Index - • G-16

Gaiene Disk Lit)rary G-11

Gazette Disk Subscription G-15

Productivity Manager G-23

Quanlum Q-Link G-9

SharePak Disk Subscription 71

Single Disk Order A-19

Specialty Disks G-13

IMPORTANT NOTICE

FOR

COMPUTE DISK

SUBSCRIBERS

COMPUTE offers tv*/o differ-
ent disk products for PC read-
ers; the SharePak disk and
PC Disk. ShafePak is monthly
and has a subscription price
of $59,95 for 5Vj-inch disks
and $64.95 for 3V2-inch
disks, A subscription to Share-
Pak does not include a sub-
scription to the magazine,
PC Disk appears in even-num-
bered months and has a sub-
scription price of $49.95,
which includes a subscrip-
tion to the PC edition of
COIVIPUJE. You can sub-
scribe to either disk or to
both, but a subscription to
one does not include a sub-
scription to the other.

JUNE 1992 COIVlPUTE 113

PROTECT
YOURSELF!

NEW SCREAM-ALARM HELPS PROrta YOU OR A
LOVED ONE FROM ASSAULT, BURGLARY, FIRE!

This fittle combination i<ey ring, 105-decibei scream-aiarm can be

■ l<ept in pocl<et or purse. Just puii tine oiarm ring and it emits a

loud shriel< whicli doesn't stop untii you turn it off, Can also be used

in t^ome or Inotei room to detect breal<-in or fire tlnrough its buiit-in

iieat sensor. Battery inciuded.

CALL TOLL-FREE: 800-642-8150

Cost is S14.95 per unit. Add S3.00 siiipping.

J.--- 1

Mail to: SCREAM AlARM, Dept. C

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Florida residents: Please odd appropriate sales tax.

it greatly simplifies doing two-pass
scans wliere the left and righit liaives of
the page must be scanned individually
and then "zipped" together. The align-
ment grid of the SCAN:ALIGN unit
makes this a simple operation by pro-
viding guides for the left and right edg-
es of the page which precisely center
the "overlap" zones of the page. The re-
sult is OCR accuracy rivaling that of
expensive flatbed scanners.

Scanning photos and line art is also
much faster and easier with SCAN:
ALIGN, since it makes it possible to do
straight, accurate scans the first time.
Cleanup of errant pixels is also greatly re-
duced, so you'll save lots of time in prep-
ping your scanned art for use in desktop
publishing or other appfications,

SCAN:ALIGN is a must-have acces-
sory for anyone who uses a hand scan-
ner. It's a great tool that actually lives
up to its manufacturer's hype.

TOM BENFORD

SCAN:ALIGN— $39,95

SCAN:ALIGN
4400 Sunbelt Dr.
Dallas. TX 75248
(214) 380-8724

Circle Reader Service Numtwr 372

THE MAXIMIZER AND
MAXIMIZER LITE

They may sound like new brands of
malt liquor, but The Maximizer and
Maximizer Lite are actually very similar
variations on the theme of powerful con-
tact-management software. As you
might expect, Maximizer Lite is a
stripped-down version of The Maximiz-
er. though the two programs operate
identically up to a point.

At its most basic level, contact-man-
agement software serves as a meta-
Rolodex for your PC, with some word
processing, electronic communica-
tions, and automated calendar func-
tions frequently tossed in for good meas-
ure. In addition to keeping track of
names and addresses for your clients
or business contacts. The fvlaximizer al-
so allows you to keep up with their birth-
days and hobbies, the dates you last
talked to them, and how soon you need
to make contact again. If you have a
Hayes-compatible modem, it diais their
numbers for you. The Maximizer prints
out letters — individually or personalized
in bulk — to people you need to stay in
touch with, and it makes a note of both
the date and subject of every letter you
send. The program has a pop-up cal-
culator, an elementary ledger program,
and a feature called f\/laxMerge for peo-
ple who need to move their databas-
es around, as from a desktop PC to a

Enhance Your Tandy

1000 EX / HX

External Hard Drives
Complete With Controller

42 Meg 28 MS $399
68 Meg 23 MS $425
85 Meg 16 MS $429
105 Meg 16 MS $489
130 Meg 15 MS $529
210 Meg 15 MS $699

15 Month Warranty, 30 Day Money Back Guarantee. TOLL FREE Help Line,

Hard Cards

For 1000, A, SX, TX, SL,
TL, SL/2, TL/2, TL/3, IBM

42 Meg 28, MS $299

68 Meg 23 MS $359

85 Meg 16 MS $399

105 Meg 16 MS $469

130 Meg 15 MS $499

210 Meg 15 MS $689

1000 HX

Interflal Hard Drive
Complete. Replaces a Floppy

42 Meg 28 MS $299
85 Meg 16 MS $389
105 Meg 16 MS $449
130 Meg 15 MS $539

IDE "SmartDrive"
For TL/2, RL, TL/3, RLX
$289

42 Meg 28 MS

Memory Board to 640K, Chipsets

1000, A to 640K W/Clock, Serial $229

256K EX or HX to 640K

256K 1200 or IBM to 640K

384K SX, EX, HX, SL to 640K

TX, TL, TL/2, TL/3 to 768K

3000 NL from 512K to 640K

1000RLto768K

1000 RLX to One Meg

$149
$189
$ 49
$ 49
$ 49
$ 39
$ 39

Over 640K Memory Boards
Micro Mainframe 5150T EMS Board

More Space for Spreadsheets, Windows, ^ and More
Complete With LIM^ 4.0

1 Meg installed $229

2 Meg installed $249

1 Meg for 1500 or 2810 Laptops

Also for Panasonic CF-17(). 270, 370 $129

Floppy Drives

Capacity Internal External

360K
1.2 Meg
720K
1.44 Meg

$ 99
$159
$109
$159

$199
$199

EX/HX CD-ROM Drives

External For lOOO's*, IBM, compatibles, Slot Box

$129 Internal CD ROM Drive $369

N/A External CD ROM Drive $449

$129 *Note: EX or HX must have Slot Box

N/A Call for CD Titles available

SLOT BOX Seven full length slots, three 5.25"
drive bays, one 3 .5 " drive bay. Power and hard drive
lights. 200 Walt power supply, cooling fan. At-
taches to EX, HX, 1000, A, SX, TX, SL, TL, SL/2,

TL/2, RL, TL/3, RLX. $279

IPH-

"..Provides the ideal upgrade path. ."-PCM Dec 91

Modems and Faxes

Hayes Compatible,

2400 Baud Internal
2400 Baud External
9600 Baud Internal
Fax/Modem Internal

2400 Baud Modem, 9600
Baud Send/Receive Fax

360dpi Mouse
Serial Card

$ 79
$ 99

$349

$159
$ 49
$ 29

Serial Card EX/HX $ 49

VGA Combinations

For SX, TX, SL, TL, SU2, TI72,
RL, TL/3, IBM, compatibles

Combo 1

14" CTX Monitor
256K VGA Card
640X480 $489

Super Combo
14" CTX Monitor
1 Meg VGA Card
1024 X 768 $589

Tandy, Haye.'s, IBM. Windows, are regislered TrademarLs
Prices subjecl to ch.inge wilhoul notice.

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Athens, Ohio 45701

537

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C.O.D.

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AMERICAN
EXPRESS

CIrclB Reader Service Number t20

Upgrading Your Tandy

210 Pages on performance enhancing
upgrades and installation. Covers all
lOOO's Series computers $19.95

Speed Up Chips

1000, A. SX, EX, HX,
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PC sprint 100% Faster
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Math Coprocessors

TX, TL, TU2, TI73. 80286's

Now only $139

Math Sprint SMket $59.00

Makes 80287 up to 200% faster

REVIEWS

laptop. All of its features
work well, offering no un-
pleasant surprises either in
setup or execution.

This is highly specialized
software, geared toward peo-
ple who have ongoing, com-
plex relationships with many
clients. The Maximizer does
so much that it's hard to keep
up with it all — and hard to re-
member which sublevel of a
subfevel holds a given tidbit
of information once you re-
member to look for it. Navigat-
ing The Maximizer necessi-
tates wandering through a
maze of choice-filled menus,
each of which opens onto an-
other choice-filled menu. You
can do a lot with the program,
but in the process you have
to remember a lot of not-al-
ways-obvious keystrokes and

Tluirsdai) Bugust 2Z, 199! 6:56
Letailej Hcl'ji — — - Ctrl fl-flaU) Itelp lOK ■

Ust Nik
First KiK
rasitloo

ScpartMrnt
Organ isdtion
fiildress Line I
fiddrcss Lint Z
Cllij

CQUntDJ

\%K/2nt Phnoe
3ri!/-Uh Phone
Last Cnntiict

Hdlvcrsan

Brent tn

Uice Frcsideot Zi

Sofluare Deue!opiB»t

Spijjldss Softmrc

\bi,'i Blgoaingddte Street

SCaittcts
Bales

Salutation: Sear tir. Hcscripttans
Nntes

Uancoiiuer ftm : lift

HailiTig nddres:
l-Ze6-SSS-3156tuorli I

i-zu-sss-esaiiiioK i

dujust I, 1991 Next Contact

Chech progress at Colanitia Contract

Code: 9213Z
: Use Main

l-2e6-b7ll9Ifan 1

[hOK 1

: ftugust Z3, 1991

Public

Job Fttnetion
Persons I Inlcresls
fersonal ifttcrcsts

Electron ics^CQBaulcrs

Conpnter Anolyst

Fishing

Skiloj

The Maximizer and Maximizer Lite are variations on a powerfui—
and compiex—contact-management software theme.

consult help screens, a quick

reference guide, or the man-
ual quite a bit. With so many
options, the macro feature of-
fers little relief unless you're us-
ing The Maximizer for a very

narrow range of uses.

Complexity almost invaria-
bly goes hand in hand with
greater power. But Maximiz-
er Lite, which reduces the
complexity to a modest ex-

tent, retains a surprising
amount of The Maximizer's
considerable power. The
main losses are the personal
records feature available in
The Maximizer, which in-
cludes the income and ex-
pense ledger and a diary fea-
ture for keeping track of
notes. But PC owners with-
out a hard drive gain the abil-
ity to run the program on two
floppies, and Maximizer Lite
also comes with a fine pro-
gram to print out client infor-
mation in the form of a
phone book, on labels, or on
actual Rolodex cards.

Tastes great? Less filling?
Let's just say that each has
its own attributes, along with
a few drawbacks. If you
need the kind of features the
Maximizer programs offer,

COMPUTE Has the Official Guides to Sierra Adventures

llirUfiddihik

^s*^ THEOmciAiBOOKOF

" KING'S

— ^"^

■ftij». I

OpnMt.-rdvtttt

The Official Book of

Leisure Suit Lany,

Second Edition

288 pages (2567)

$14.95

The Official Book of

King's Quest,

Second Edition

176 pages (2451)
$12.95

The Official Guide

to Roger Wilco's

Space Adventures

272 pages (2370)
$14.95

To order your copies send the appropriate amount plus £2 shipping and handling per book U.S, ($4 Canada and $6 other) to
COMPUTE Books, c/o CCC, 2500 McClellan Ave,, Pennsauken, NJ 08109, (Residents of NO, NY, and NJ please add appropriate

sales tax; Canadian orders add 7% GST).
All orders must be paid in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. Orders will be shipped via UPS Ground Service. Offer good wtitle supplies last.

Comins in July ... The Official Book of Police Quest

116 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

SPANISH

30 Cassettes
1 Triple Bonus
$265.00

FRENCH

30 Casselles
+ Triple Bonus

$265.00

GERIVtAN

30 Cassettes
* Tfiple Bonus
S265.00

ITALIAN

30 Cassettes
tTripfe Bonus
$265,00

JAPANESE

30 Cassettes
+ Tfiple Bonus
$285.00

Mandarin
CHINESE

30 Cassettes
t Triple Bonus
$285.00

RUSSIAN

30 Cassettes
• Triple Bonus
$285.00

Brazilian
PORTUGUESE

30 Cassettes

+ Triple Bonus

$265.00

Learn Foreign Languages... Incredibly Fast!

Conversing in a foreign language is a major social and business asset...and brings new life to the worlds of travel, entertainment,
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to comfortably converse in a new language within 30 days.

Accelerated learning, developed by famed
learning expert Dr. Georgi Lozanov, is based
on the premise of involving both hemispheres of
the brain in the education process. The analyti-
cal or logical left .side of the brain, when prop-
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side of the brain, both increases the speed and
heightens the retention of learning. Utilizing
these untapped mental capacities of your learn-
ing ability is the basis of this unique, highly
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You will learn the language as stresslesslv as
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phrases in alternately loud, whispered, and em-
phatic intonations, all accompanied by slow
rhythmic music in digital stereo. This perfect
combination of music and words allow the two
halves of the brain to work together to dramati-
cally facilitate your assimilation of the new
language.

The first 15 (memory) tapes of this .30-tape
package help activate the learning capacities of
the brain. The second 15 (study) tapes are the
very same tried and proven tapes used by the
Foreign Service Institute to train career diplo-
mats. This marriage of two concepts literally
gives you two courses in one, providing the best
of both worlds in language instruction.

Best Value! With a total of 32 cassettes plus
study materials, this program represents the best

^,..

"American Managers with Language
Skills Open More Doors"

-W'iiU Slfft'l Jntiimil Etlituriul

"Company and marketing executives will find
after 1992 that it i.s a handicap not to be fairly
conversant with at least otte other major Euro-
pean language -and preferably two or three.

Study Tapes

Circle Reader Service
Number 193

value available today in language instruction.
Compared to other programs, the Accelerated
Learning Series outperforms them with twice
the audio and 20 limes the study material.

To correctly converse in a foreign language,
you must understand the meanings and intent of
the native speaker. If after 30 days of listening
to the study and memory tapes, you are not
fomfortahly iwdcrsianding and conversing in
your new laniiiiiii'c, return them for a full refund.

TO ORDER; Plmne Dt send vDor cliei:k. mDney order or liisl. P.O.

TOLL-FREE 24 HRS: VISA ■ M/C

!• 800 -85 •AUDIO

Rush Orders PHONE 9-5 PDT:

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' INTERNATIONAL ORDERING INFORMATION <

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riuy L-.ill our order tivfk toll-fn-t: 2'i lioiirs a day
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I N^

D FRENCH S265.00

D SPANISH S265.00

D GERMAN S265,00

D rTALIAN $265.00

D PORTUGUESE (Brazilian) $265.00

D JAPANESE S285.00

n RUSSIAN S285.00

D CHINESE (Mandarin) $285.00

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I Please add $1 1 .00 shipping & tiandling
California residents add 8%% sales tax.
I All Funds Payable in U.S. Dollars ■

New from
GeoWorks Press

^Desktop
Publishing

_ WITH

GeOXOrks

The Editors at CBC
Foreword by Brian Dougherty, CEO of GeoWorks

Here's the complete guide to desktop publishing with
GeoWorks, the award-winning graphical environment
and applications package. Includes everything you
need to know to create eye-catching documents, includ-
ing business forms and brochures, invitations, banners
and greeting cards, and much more.

To order your copy, send $18.95 plus $2 shipping and han-
dling (U.S., $4 Canada and $6 other) to COMPUTE Books,
c/o CCC, 2500 McClellan Ave., Pennsauken, NJ 08109. (Res-
idents of NC, NJ, and NY, please add appropriate tax; Ca-
nadian orders add 7% Goods and Services Tax.)

All orders must be paid in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. Orders will
be shipped via UPS Ground Service. Offer good wfiile supplies last.

thiere's plenty of potential in either as
long as you're willing to take the time
and effort necessary to tap into it.

EDDIE HUFFMAN

The Maximizer: IBM PC and compaiibles, 512K
RAM, hard drive— S395.00

Maximizer Lite: IBM PC and compatibles. 512K
RAM— $79.95

RICHMOND TECHNOLOGIES AND SOFTWARE

Sie. 420. 6400 Roberts St.

Burnaby. BC

Canada V5G 4C9

(604) 299-2121

Circle Reader Service Njmlwr 373

ON THE GOFAX

It sounds strange: faxing documents us-
ing neither a fax machine nor a fax/
modem board, just a modem. But if
you've got the necessary hardware, On
the GoFAX makes faxing documents a
snap anywhere you can connect your
modem to a phone line, whether it's
your office or a hotel room.

Though designed for use on the road
from a laptop or notebook computer, the
program could even serve as a send-
only substitute for a fax machine or fax/
modem board from your desktop PC.
The cost of faxing those pages, though,
would add up to the cost of a send-and-
receive board in a hurry. At current
rates, it costs $3 to fax one page and $2
for each page thereafter. Local fax sta-
tions probably run a bit cheaper. Still, On
the GoFAX might come in very handy at
odd hours or in unfamiliar places, and
your call to the service bureau that does
the actual faxing is toil-free.

After a setup procedure in which you
assign a credit card number {a pass-
word safeguards against fax-charge
theft), On the GoFAX presents a menu.
Changing the standard information
that goes out on each of your fax pag-
es won't pose major difficulties, and
creating fax documents with the rudimen-
tary text editor doesn't demand much
finesse.

This virtual facsimile machine can al-
so transmit text files in ASCI! from your
own word processing program, graph-
ics files, and multiple versions of the
same file to different recipients. My on-
ly real complaint is with the annoying
screen blips and silly sound effects
that accompany incorrect keystrokes
and the conclusions of various GoFAX
procedures.

Whether On the GoFAX looks like a
bargain largely depends on how des-
perately you need to fax something at
any given moment. For everyday use,
the service seems prohibitively expen-
sive, but the software itself does not. As
an insurance policy for those times
when you may need late-night or on-the-

118 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

ZERO'S & ONE'S PC WAREHOUSE

7525 Rosecrans Ave., #203, Paramount, CA 90723

310-630-3551 (information) 8-5 M-F * 310-634-7745 (FAX) 24-hours

800-788-2193 (orders) 8-6 M-F, 9-4 Sa p.S.t.

ALL IBM COMPATIBLE

SOUND BOAHDS

ATlStareoF/X 147.95
ProAudio Spec +219.95
Roland LAPC1 399.95
Sound BIst Pro 189.95
Sound Blaster 114.95

Sounds MCA 219.95
Sound BC/MS 25.95
Sound Comndr + 69.95
Sound Master II 149.95
Thunderboard 99.95

JOYSTICKS AND MICE

Thfustmaster

Throttla 84.95

Joystick 69.95

CH Bight stic!( 41.95

CH Mach II 24.95

CH Mach III 29.95

Wnref Pistol 24.95

Winner Yoke 46.95

Gravis gamepad 24.95

Gravis stick 33.95

MICE

3-Button 17.95

Logitech

Mouseman 69.95

Rollarballs call

Microsoft OEM 79.95

Ganne Cards

Economy 9,95

Hl-speed 19.95

CH game III 2S.9S

MATH CO-PROCESSORS

3C87SX-16 99.95, 3087-25 151.95

3C87SX-2a 112.95 3087-33 159.95

3G87SX.25 125.951 3CS7-40 rSSJi.

MULTl MEDIA
Creative Labs MM CDRom Drive &

CDR buridie for Sound Blaster Pro 389.95

Creative Labs MM CDRom Drive &.

CDR bundle with Sound Blaster Pro 574.95
Sony CDU 535 internal w/card 349.95

Sony CDU 535 external w/card 399.95

Computer Eyes RT 434.95

Computer Eyes Pro 299.95

Xapshot Camera. Canon RC-250 459.99

CALL tor MediaVision Products

EDUCATIONAL ENTERTAINMENT

ACT Studyware 29.95
Alge-Blaster Plus 29.95
Algebra + , v.2 32.95
Barbie Design 15.95
Barbie Fashion 24.95
Beauty&B.PrntKit 14.95
Bodyworks 47.95

Carmen San Diego grp
Castle Dr.Brain 29.95
Chal Anc Empire 29.95
Comic Bk Creatr 19.95
Dance Planets 149.95
Destination Mars 34.95
D Tracy Print Kit 14.95
Dinosaur Designr 19.95
Disney Snd Srce 26,95
Dr. Quandry 35.95
Earthquest 35.95

EcoOuest 33.95

EcoSaurus 24.95

GMAT Studyware 29.95
GRE Studyware 29.95
Headline Harry 29.95
Joshua Reading 29.95
Kid Pix 34.95

Kid Works 29.95

Knowledge Adv. 47.95
LSAT Studyware 35.95
Marvin Moose 31.95
Math Blaster + 29.95
Math Climber 6.95
Math Mystery 29.95
Math Rabbit 25.96
Math Zone 32.95

M.BeaconType 31.95
McGee 24.95

McGee at Fair 24.95
McG Katie Farm, 24.95
Mickey's ABC 24.95
Mickey's ABO w/
sound source 37.95
Mickey's 123 24.95
Mickey/M PrntKit 14.95
Mickey Crosswrd 19.95
Mickey Jigsaw 29.95
Mickey's Zoo 12.95
Midnite Rescue 29.95

Mixed Fairy Tales29.95

Mixed M.Goose 41.95

Mutanoid Math 26.95

My Letters 26.95

Newsroom 14.95

Nigel's World 35.95

Numbr Munchrs 29.95
Once Upon a Time

Stories 29,95

Puppets 29,95

Oper.Neptune 34,95

Orbits 35,95

Oregon Trail 29,95

Out Numbered 29.95

PC Globe 4.0 39.95

PC USA 2.0 29.95

Phonics Plus 26.95

Playroom 27.95

Prin of Biology 24.95

Prin of Calculus 29.95
Prin of Chemstry 24,95

Prin of Econmcs 24.95

Prin of Physics 24.95

Reader Rabbit 29.95
SAT PefsnITrainr 29.95

Second Math 32.95

Sea the U.S.A. 28,95

Speed Reader 29.95

Spell-a-Saurus 29.95

Spellbound 31,95

SpBlilt+ 29,95

Stlckybear Read 24,95

Stickybear Type 29,95

Story Teller I 31,95

Story Teller II 31.95

Super Mario 21.95

SuperMunchers 29.95

Think Quick 31.95

Treasure Mtn 29.95

Treehouse 34.95

Typing Tutor S 29.95
What's My Angle

(geometry) 29.95

Word Munchrs 29.95
World A1las(Win.) 49.95

Write & Publish 39.95

Writer Rabbit 29.95

GAMES

A-10E Tank Killer 35.95
Adv. O&D series
Action Stations 29.95
AS; Scenario 15.95
Allied Forces 41.95
AmerClvWar, I 24.95
Armada 2525 29.95
Armor Alley 26.95

ATP Right Assgn 36.95
Back to Future series
Bane Csmic Frge 38.95
Bard Tales III 29.95
Bart Simpson 29.95
Battle Command 22.95
Bloodwych 24.95

Breach 2 19.95

Castle Dr. Brain 29.95
Castles 35.95

Chip's Challnge 25.95
Civilization 38.95

Colonels Bquest 35.95
Command HQ 35.95
Conan 29.95

Conq.LongBow 39.95
Corporation 29.95

Countdown 31.95

Danger Zone 29.95
Dark Spyre 25.95

Decsn Gettysbrg 23.95
Design own RR 34.95
D-Generation 31.95
Dragon's Lair series
Dusk of Gods 37.95
Elite Pius 29.95

Elvira series
F-117ANi1ehawk 44.95
F-14 Tomcat 26.95
F-15 Strk Eagle II 29.95
Faerghail 25.95

Falcon 3.0 44.95

Rnal Conflict 24.95
Rre Team 2000 29.95
Right of Intruder 32.95
Right Sim 4.0 37.96
FS Acft & Seen 27.95
FS IPS 59.95

FS Mallard upgrd 26.95
FS Scenery 19.95

Free D.C- 39.95

Future Wars 29,95

Genghis Khan 35.95
Godfather 29.95

Grailquest 24.95

Gunship 2000 35.95
Hard Nova 19.95

Hare Rais.Havoo 29.95
Harpoon series
Heart of China 35.95
Home Alone 24.95
Hyperspeed 34.95

Immortal, The 19.95
Indy Jones IV 38.95
JBondiStlth AHr 29.95
Jetfightor II 39.95

Kings Quest series
Knighls of Sky 29.95
LeIs.Suit Larry series
Lemmings 29.95

L.Manley series
LHX Chopper 25,95
U(e & Death 23.95
L&D ll:The Brain 25.95
Lightspaed 29.95

Loom 19,95

Lord of Rings series
Lost Admiral 35,95
MacArthur's War 29,95
Magic Candle II 36.95
Manhunter2 29.95
Maniac Mansion 16.95
Martian Dreams 35.95
Martian Memo. 34.95
Marvel Trilogy 22.95

Matrix Cubed 31.95
Mean Streets 35.95
MegaFortress 36.95
MegaTraveler II 32.95
IVIlG-29 Fulcrum 29.95
Might & Magic series
Millennium 19.95

Mission Imposbl 29.95
Murder 29.95

Nobnaga Amb II 34.95
No Greater Glory 45.95
Nova 9 21.95

Nuclear War 31.95
Obitus 29.95

Oper'n Combat 29.95
Overlord 29.95

Panzer Battles 21.95
Paperboy 2 26.95

Patton Strikes 35.95
Perfect General 35.95
Planet's Edge 36.95
Police Quest series
Power Monger 33.95
Predator 2 1 4.95

Prince of Persia 29.95
Quest for Glory 35.95
Red Baron VGA 39.95
Rise of Dragon 34.95
Rmnc 3 Kngdm 1139.96
RR Tycoon 32.95

Rocketeer 29.95

Rules Engagmnt 36.95
Second (^ront 38.95
Sec Monkey Is series
Sec Wpns of Lufi 42.95
add-ons 19.95

Sex Olympics 24.95
Shuttle 35.95

Sierra Network 19.95
Silent Service II 31.95
Sim Ant 35.95

Sim City 29.95

Sim City Graphic 21.95
Sim Earth 42.95

Sleep.Gods Lie 29.95
Space 1889 28.95

Space Ace II 35.95
Sp Quest IV vga 37.95
Spellcasting series
Spiderman 24.95

Spirit Excalibur 29.95
Star Control 29.95
Star Trek 25th 35.95
Stellar 7 24.95

Stratego 29.95

TeenhJinja Turtle 24.95
Terminator II 39.95
Their Rnst Hour 43.95
Thexder:Rrehwk 22.95
Thunderhawk 31.95
Time Quest 29.95

Twilight 2000 34.95
Typhoon of Steel 38.95
Ultima series call

UMS II 29.95

UMS Planet Ed. 29.95
Uncharted Water 41.95
Veng. Excalibur 29.95
Warlords 29.95

Western Front 37.95
Willie Beamish 34.95
Wing Cmmnder series
Wizardry series call
Wonderland 35.95
Worlds at War 29.95
Wrath ol Demons 29.95
Xenocide 28.95

Veager Air Ombt 36.95
BOARD, CARD AND
SHOW GAMES
AnteUp Poker 24.95
Backgammon 19.95
Battle Chess 29.95
Battle Chess II 29.95

Blackjack 29.95

Bridge Saron £9.95
Bridge Cmpnion 34.95
Bridge Gr.Slam 21.95
Bridge O.Sharit 29.95
Bridge Truscott 22.95
Bridge Win 5 wks24.95
Casino Master 44.95
Chessmstr 3000 31.95
Craps 19.95

Cribbage 27.95

Crossword Magic31.95
Dealer's Choice 29.95
Femme Fatale 24.95
Go Junior 22.95

Go Master 42.95

Hoyte III 29.95

Ishido 32.95

Lexicross 29.95

Monopoly 24.95

Puzzle Gallery 24.95
Puzzle Master 29.95
Risk 24.95

Scrabble DIx 35.95
Shogi Master 32.95
Solitaire (Bicycle) 29.95
Solitaire (Hoyle 11)22.95
Solitaire Royale 21.95
Strip Poker 29.95

Super Jeopardy 24.95
Super Tetris 29.95
Tetris 19.95

Troika 17.95

Trump Castle II 29,95
Welltris 19.95

Wheel of Fortune 23.95
Wordtris 24.95

CO ROMS
Amer.Bus.Phnbk 39,95
Annabel's Dream 64.95
Bible Library 53.95
Britan.Fam,Chce 74,95
Carmn S,Diego 69,96
CD-Rom Collect, 29,95
CD Directory 109,95
Classic Fairy TIs 72,95
Coral Artshow 91 72.95
Elac.Home Libry 74.95
Family Doctor 107.95
Game Collection 49.95
Golden Immortal 29.95
Grab Bag 24.95

Gramdma & Me call
Guinness Reeds 74.95
Jones Fast Lane 40.95
Jungle Safari 72.95
King's Quest V 41.95
LangGame/Span 59.95
Magazine Rack 46.95
MS Stat Pack 89.95
Mixed M. Goose 45.95
Monarch Cliff Nts 74.96
Murdr Slr.BedfBlo3e.96
Night Owl's 4.1 29.96
Night Owl's 5.0 44.95
Shakespear Illust.29.g5
Sherlock Holmes 29.95
SH Consult Det.
Sleeping Beauty 36.95
Stellar 7 40.95

Street Atlas (win) 72.95
TimeTable Sci. 85.95
Toolwks Hef Ubr 98.95
US/World Atlas 86.95
VGA Spectrum 29.95
Vintage Aloha 29.95
WCIw/Msnsl&2 69.95
WCI w/Ultima VI 69.95
Wild Places 38.95

World View 29,95

CDROM MPC
American Vista 59,95
Autodesk Explr 127.95

Battle Chess 47.95
Beethoven MM 59.95
Compost Quest 69.95
Dictnry.Children 43.95
Elec. Library Art 72.95
Mammal encyc. 84.95
MS Bookshelf 139.95
MS Works (win) 134.95
Spirit Excalibur 37.95

HOME t OFFICE
Animation, Paint 64.95
Animation Studio 77.95
Auto Map 59.95

Check Free 49.95

Cookbook 29.95

Cookbook Plus 41.95
Deluxe Paint II 85.95
Dvorak Typing 29.95
Evrybodys Planr 62.95
Far Side calendr 47.95
Grade Quick 47.95
Jobhunt 29.95

Objection! 29.95

Tempra Pro 299.95
TempraGIF 114.95
Vehicle Records 35.95
Virtual Raal.Stdo. 54.95
Vista Pro 77.95

Wedding Plannr 33,95

SPORTS
Andretti Racing 19.95
8o Jackson BsBI 29.95
Boxing, 4D 19,95

College Ftbl 35,95
Hardball 29,95

JConner Tennis 31.95
Joe Montana Ftb 29.95
JMadden Ftb 29.95
JNicklaus Golf 34.95
Unks 36.95

Microleag.FtblDlx41.95
Mike Ditka Ftbl 32.95
Motocross 19.95

Nascar Challenge29.9S
NFL PRO Ftbl 44.95
Playmaker Ftbl 34.95
Sharkey 3D Pool 18.95
Speedball 2 24.95

Sports Adventure 47.95
Stunt Driver 29.95

T LaRuSSa BB 29.95
Team Suzuki 24.95
Test Drive II 29.95

Test Drive III 34.95

W.Gretzky Hocky 33.95
Weaver Basbl II 31.96
Wide Wrid Boxg 29.95
WINDOWS

Battle Chess
Briefcase calendr
Casino Pack #t
ChessmastrSOOO
Chessnet
Diet Pro

Far Side calendr
Golf Companion
Herman calendr
Laffer Utilities
MBeacon Typing
Entertain. Pak#1
Entertain. Pak#3
Money Mgr.
MS Works
Pixel Puzzle
Risk

Screen Works
Sim Earth
Speed Reader
Super Tetris
Typing Tutor 5
U,S,Atlas 3,0
Wired for Sound
World Atlas

29,95
29,95
31,95
37,95
31.95
34.95
49.95
24.95
19.95
25.95
37.95
27.95
27.95
19.95
29.95
39.95
29.95
19,95
42.95
29.95
29.95
29.95
49.96
32.95
49.95

VSA

Prices and availability subject to change. All sales final. We do not guarantee compatability. All software is
factory fresh and unopened. We are not responsible for manufacturer's defects. Contact publisher
regarding defects. Shipping: 1st game $3; add'l games add $1 each in Cont. US. 2nd Day Air $6 1st
game, add'l games adcr$l each in Cont. US. COD add $4. CA residents add 7.75% tax. All prices are US $.

REVIEWS

road faxes, On the GoFAX
goes where you need it.

EDDIE HUFFMAN

IBM PC and compatibles. 51 2K
RAM, Hayes-compatible modem—
$69.95

IBfS SOFTWARE

140 Second St.. Sle. 603

San Francisco, CA 94105

(415) 546-1917

Circle Reader Service Number 374

DISCXCHANGE

Daunted by the prospect of
installing a hard drive? Inter-
preter simplifies the process
with DiscXchange, an exter-
nally mounted hard drive com-
plete with software that as-
signs drive tetters and does
your formatting for you.

The unit has several inter-
esting features. It hooks up to
your computer through the
standard IBM parallel (printer)
port. The disks aren't built in
but are contained within rough-
ly 5y4-inch square x yj-inch
thick removable cartridges.
You can change 44MB or
88MB cartridges as easily as
you might change floppy
disks. Though it requires a
120-volt power outlet, the unit
itself is easily transportable,
weighing seven pounds and
measuring QV2 x 2'/^ x 14
inches. It even has a carrying
handle.

The DiscXchange driver
software automatically as-
signs device letters which
fall beyond those of the com-
puter system to which the
unit is connected. The driver
software is completely trans-
parent— use these drives
like any other drives in your
system, because all the DOS
commands and routines ap-
ply. Disk access is reasona-
bly fast— as much as 127
KBps, with an average seek
time of 20 ms. Add to this
self-diagnostics, built-in de-
fect management, and auto-
matic error correction, and

r^cKcl^^

Let the software do the hard part for you with DiscXchange. an
externally mounted hard drive that's fast and easy to use.

you have a unit that's a real
contender!

Unfortunately, getting start-
ed can be a problem. I

used an XT-compatible desk-
top clone on my first attempt
to install DiscXchange. The
software provided (in both
5V4- and 3'/2-inch low-den-
sity floppy disk formats) con-
tains a TSR routine. DX44,
which automatically assigns
drive letters to DiscXchange
that follow those of the host
computer's resident drives.
My XT has the equivalent of
six drives, A-F, two of which
are hard drive partitions.
When the DX44 program
was first run, a message
appeared indicating that a
communications problem
existed, something possibly
related to my parallel port.
But the DiscXchange active
light came on during ali
this, causing me to sus-
pect that the real problem
was an unformatted hard
disk cartridge.

Because of this suspicion,
I loaded another file from
the installation disk,
SQPRER to do formatting
(There are two low-density in-
stallation disks provided for
both 3V2- and 5%-inch disk
drives.) A message "ap-

peared on the screen ask-
ing for the non-SCSI drive
count. It wasn't asking how
many hard drives I had, but
whether my partitions would
count as one or two hard
drives. To play it safe, I de-
cided to use my XT-compat-
ible laptop, which has two
floppy drives and no hard
drives. After loading the in-
stallation program and then
the formatting file SQPREP,
I chose the No Non-SCSI
Drives option and followed
the default selections. The
88MB cartridge was correct-
ly formatted with three parti-
tions— two of 32MB and
one of 24fvlB. The drive let-
ters became C, D, and E,
as was appropriate for my
two-drive unit.

Reattaching DiscXchange
to my desktop, I loaded the
driver software. Magic! Not
only was DiscXchange recog-
nized and accessible, but
the drive letters were automat-
ically assigned after the let-
ters already in use. I now
had a G, an H, and an I
drive — just what I was sup-
posed to have. Because oper-
ation of the DX44 driver is
completely transparent to
the user, copying files to Disc-
Xchange and running soft-

ware is a completely natural
process with no hitches at all,
I'd love to have a Disc-
Xchange unit to keep. It's
fast, easy to use, reliable,
and convenient.

BRUCE M. BOWDEN

DiscXchange— J1 .595 tor 88MB ver-
sion, 31,294 for 44MB version

INTERPRETER

11455 W. 48th Ave,

WHeat Ridge. CO 80033

(BOO) 232-4687

(303)431-8991

Circle Reader Service Number 375

THE SECRET
CODES OF
C.Y.P.H.E.R.:
OPERATION
WILDLIFE

I thought it strange that an un-
dercover agent drove a pick-
up truck. Now, after he's
abandoned me in front of a
dilapidated feed store on
this deserted street, I'm won-
dering whether he's a dou-
ble agent. No matter. All I
can do is go into the store.
With a little luck I'll find anoth-
er agent who'll take me to
headquarters. Inside, the
woman behind the counter
gives me a mean stare, then
nods toward some shelves
filled with jars and boxes. I
swallow hard and step to-
ward the shelves. They slide
apart, revealing a narrow hall-
way. My heart races. I remem-
ber the pickup truck and
fight my instinct to ditch this
dive. I've begun this mission,
and I have to see it through.
I brace myself and step into
the hallway Ahead I see flash-
ing lights. Gadzooks! It's the
sign-in computer for Opera-
tion Wildlife!

This is where Tanager Soft-
ware leaves you in its new ed-
ucational game, The Secret
Codes of C.Y.P.H.E.R.: Oper-
ation Wildlife. You're a secret

120

COMPUTE JUNE 1992

THESEQUELTOTMMYANM

The year is 1995 ...

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REVIEWS

agent, and your mission is to
decipher messages for cli-
ents, Along the way, you
learn about mammals as
you collect pieces of code.
The fun part is unscram-
bling the code, especially if
you use an alternate alpha-
bet. I like decoding in Amer-
ican Sign Language, but
you may find Braille, fvlorse
code, semaphore, or Greek
more fun — and English
more manageable.

A lot of thought and plan-
ning went into Operation Wild-
life, evident in its terrific art-
work and tiny details. It's
delightful: You use a code
name, doorknobs turn,
sound effects are catchy
and appropriate, and mam-
mals are positioned in their
correct habitats, A bonus fea-
ture lets you send messages
to other players, so you can
carry on conversations with
friends who've signed into
the game. Your message is
encoded, and your friend
has to unscramble it. It's fun
to leave silly and sometimes
cryptic notes.

You select your client from
an extensive list detailing
each client's bio. It includes
Ruth the Snoop, a gossip col-
umnist who seeks exclusives;
Dr. Celeste lal, an astronomer
who's secretly studying a
quadrant of the galaxy; Heidi
N. Tzeeck, an animal tracker
who's looking for a lost wolf;
and fvlurray Sackum, a coach
whose team is a shoo-in for
the Super Bowl. This motley
crowd's bound to have some-
one who piques your interest.

You learn the names of In-
dian tribes, constellations,
trees, and a host of other sub-
jects that serve as the street
names where you meet con-
tacts. Successfully identify a
mammal from your contacts'
clues, and you receive a bit of
coded message, Collect all
the pieces, and you're ready
to decipher.

122 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

This wildlife part< in The Secret Codes of C.Y.P.H.E.R.: Operation
Wildlife features 87 mammals in ttieir natural fiabitats.

As you play, you also
learn all sorts of information —
habitat, range, size, winter col-
or, and so on — about a seem-
ingly endless number of mam-
mals. And don't think this
game is just for kids: It in-
cludes a tapir, a sugar glid-
er, and other animals most
people haven't seen or
heard much about. Need
help? Tap FunCyclopedia, lo-
cated on your watch. It's just
what you'd guess: an abbre-
viated encyclopedia full of
fun facts about mammals.

Unscramble the puzzle,
and your client replies with a
message, which in turn elic-
its a response that you have
to collect and decipher. So
it goes until you've received
all the transmissions and the
case is closed.

Although it'd be great to
see the animals animated,
there's little to complain
about in Operation Wildlife.
It's a fun way to spend a rainy
day and a great way to learn
about animals. I'd tell you
more, but I think I see Eagle
behind that cypress on your
right, and I've been waiting for
her for an hour . . . some-
thing about a scandal involv-
ing Mike Potie and the park's
water supply.

KAREN LEE SIEPAK

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THE LOST
ADMIRAL

The Lost Admiral really siz-
zles in fulfilling its claim to be
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The beauty of the game is
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submerged stealth subma-
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boats and destroyers. Carri-
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the enemy Transports can't
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er combat vessels, and they
must be in a port for a full
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and win the game. Even if
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fleet, you still lose if your trans-

ports aren't docked.

The artificial intelligence al-
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The Lost Admiral has a va-
riety of options for the cam-
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Unfortunately, the game
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to try alternative solutions.
The game has no replay or
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You may be put off by the
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phasis on strategy and the
balance of the game. The
game's best attributes are its
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The Lost Admiral is no
hard-core war game, nor is
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Circle Reader Service Numl»r 189

REVIEWS

DESKTOP
PUBLISHING BY
DESIGN, VENTURA
PUBLISHER
EDITION

I bought this book, for about
$25, a year ago in a previous
edition for PageMaker. Even
though I didn't have Page-
Maker, I gladly bought the
bool< because I discovered,
after checking every book-
store in town, that it was the
only book on design that I
could find.

Design is in the neglected
corner of desktop publish-
ing. Perhaps it's intentionally
neglected because, with all
the technological advances
in desktop publishing, about
the only way to teil a profes-
sional from an amateur pub-
lisher is by his or her grasp
of design concepts. Like an
alchemist from the f\/liddle Ag-
es, a designer's most pre-
cious possessions are the se-
crets left out of procedural
notebooks. After all, where
would we be if anyone could
turn dross into gold?

One answer is that we
would be surrounded by
gold, which is not the way I
would describe the situation
in desktop publishing today.
There's a lot of dross around,
and precious little gold. The
only thing that's changed
since "Lasercrud" (an article
in a desktop publishing mag-
azine decrying the terrible
look of homemade docu-
ments) is that a lot more peo-
ple have laser printers and
an even smaller proportion
have any idea how to use
them. Hence, more crud.

The fact is that the only
way to really learn design is
by doing it and by learning
to look at designs critically.
Desktop Publishing by De-
sign takes the approach of

124 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

providing dozens of pictures
of exemplary design, com-
pletely documented with ex-
planations of why the de-
signs work and how to gen-
eralize the ideas you see il-
lustrated, Then there is a sec-
tion on Ventura Publisher in
which you are led through
the creation of the layout for
various kinds of publications.

Although there are subtle
differences in the two edi--
tions of Desl<top Publishing
by Design, the principal dif-
ference between the two is
the 103-page section on Ven-
tura Publisher projects. If
you're already very familiar
with Ventura and, like me,
you bought the original edi-
tion of the book to learn de-
sign, there is no overpower-
ing reason to buy the new
edition. Furthermore, the
new edition only talks about
the GEM version of Ventura.
Windows isn't even men-
tioned. For this reason, the
book works better as a text
on design than as an introduc-
tion to Ventura Publisher,
even if you're completely
new to Ventura Publisher for
Windows or the Macintosh
version.

Something else is miss-
ing, too. 1 love to read Ad
Weei<'s sister publication.
Marketing Week, because it
takes a critical look at real ad-
vertising (in print and on tel-
evision}. I have learned
much from its discussion of
unsuccessful ads (poor inte-
gration of graphics with text
is the most common failing,
with illegible or unreadable
text following close behind).
I wish the authors of this
book had brought in a sec-
tion— even a brief one — on
layouts that don't work and
layouts that almost work. I
would have enjoyed watch-
ing a makeover in progress.
After all, if you're a beginning
designer, you'll most often
find yourself fixing up your

own mistakes, trying to get
disparate parts of layouts to
work (or at least live) togeth-
er. A section on makeovers
would have been more use-
ful than yet another introduc-
tion to Ventura Publisher.

All this aside, however,
Desktop Publishing by De-
sign is an unparalleled intro-
duction to the field that will
be useful to any beginning de-
signer or desktop publisher.

ROBERT BIXBY

Authors: Ronnie Shushan, Don
Wright, and Ricardo Birmele
345 pages— S24.95

MICROSOFT PRESS
One Microsolt Way
Redmond, WA 98052-6399
Circle fleader Service Number 378

MONTY
PYTHON'S
FLYING CIRCUS:
THE COMPUTER
GAME

Turn the clock back to 1969
and retive the television com-
edy show that went on to be-
come an international hit and
cult classic. Monty Python's
Flying Circus: The Computer
Game uses the animation
and humor of the Monty Py-
thon troupe to produce a
very silly arcade computer
game and even funnier doc-
umentation,

The plot sickens as your al-
ter ego, a gumby {the Eng-
lish worker lampooned by
Monty Python), loses four
pieces of his brain, which mer-
rily hop away. You pursue
the brain pieces as a
gumby, a fish with a human
head, a foot that behaves
like a pogo stick, and a bird.
In a trip through a landscape
inspired by trouper Terry Gil-
liam, you collect eggs, sau-
sage, beans, and Spam.
You're not completely de-

fenseless. You can pilot
your gumby around explod-
ing kittens and upper-class
twits or throw fish at them to
uncover the objects men-
tioned above and destroy
cheese, which also removes
points from your score.

Your score starts at
99,999,999 points, and you
lose points as you play the
game, For every 10,000,000
lost points, you get another
life. Throwing fish at silly plac-
es also causes you to lose
points. If you lose enough
points, you'll obtain nine
lives, which will regenerate in-
definitely, making your
gumby invincible.

There's no save-game fea-
ture, and non-IBM versions
have on-disk copy protec-
tion that may damage the
disk if you attempt to copy it.
Having to identify smelly
cheeses from the documen-
tation is an additional and
appropriate copy-protection
scheme.

The Official Hungarian
Phrase Bokk [sic] comes
with the game and is com-
posed of 44 pages of hilari-
ous Monty Python-like hu-
mor, some of which is cop-
ied from the original show.
The book is much better
than the game itself.

The game is quite difficult,
with nothing distinctive be-
yond the Monty Python
theme. It makes me wonder
why there's no infinite lives
switch for us Monty Python
fans over 30 who wish to wax
nostalgic but who don't
have the arcade reflexes of
a 12-year-old.

ALFRED C GIOVETTI

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Look Left

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125

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Indiana Jones 4 38
Jack Nicklas Untinl Goll3 7
J. Nicklaus Course Diskt 4
Jeltiohter II 42

Joe Montana Fsolball 31
Kid Pix 37

Kid Works 31

Kings Quest V 4 2

Laffer Utilities 22

L'Empereur 37

Leisure Suit Larry I VGA37
Leisure Suit Larry 5 42
Lemmings 31

Les Mar^tey 2: Lost L.A.37
Lexicross 25

Life and Death 2 32
Links 37

Links - Course disk 1 6
Lord of the Rings 2 37
LdsI Admiral 38

Lost Treasures lnfocom42
Magic Candle 2 38
Managers Challenge26
Gen. Mgr./Owner Disk 1 9
Martian Memorandum 37
Ma!h Blaster Mystery 31
Math Blaster f^lus 31
Matfi Rabbit 25

Matrix Cubed 32

MtKjee si the Fun Fair 25
Mega Fortress 36

Megatraveller 2 37
MicEey's ABC or 123 25
Mickey's ABC Combo 37
Micro Cookbook 31
Uicroleague F.B. Delux42
Midnight Rescue 31
Might & Magic 3 38
Mike Ditka Football 37
Milliken Storyteller 3 2

SHIPPING IS JUST H.OO PEB ORDERI HOT PER ITEM

Mixed up Fairy Tale 3

Nigel's World' 3 7

Ninja Turtle 31

Number Muncher 3 0
One A Day (each) 1 5
Oregon Trail 3 0

Once Upon a Time (ea.)31
Outnumbered 31

Overlord 30

Paperboy 2 27

P C Globe 39

PC USA 31

P C Study Bible 30
PGA Golf^ 32

Playroom w/ Sound 31
Police Quest 3 42

Print Shop 36

Print Shop Companion 3 1
Print Shop Graphic (ea.)22
Random House Encyd. 69
Reader Rabbit 1 31
Reader Rabbit 2 37
Red Baron 42

Rocketeer 31

Rules ol Engagement 38
Secret Monkey Island 2 38
Secret Weapon Lultwall44
P-38 Mission Disk 2 0
P-SD Mission Disk 2 0
Sesame Street Tri-Pack 1 9
Shuttle 3B

Sim Ant 3 7

Sim City 3 0

Sim Earth DOS or Wind 4 1
Space Ace 1 or 2 3 7
Space Quest IV 4 2

Spellcasting 201 4 2
Spell- It Plus 31

Spirit of Excalibur 3 0
Star Trek 25th Aniv. 37
Stlckybear Math Tutors 0
Stickyliear Pre-School 3 0
Stlckybear Read. Tutor 3 0
Super Munchers 3 0
Tank 37

Team Yankee 3 7

Terminator 35

Tony LaRussa Baseball 3 2
Treasure Mountain 31
Treehouse 37

Trump Castle II 31

Twilight 2000 37

Ultima Vli 4 6

Ultrataols 3 7

U.M.S. II 3 7

U.S. or Vl/orld Atlas 38
Vengeance of Excalibur 30
Warlords 32

Wayne GretzSiy II 3 5
Western Front 3 8

Wbat's My Angle 31
Where Is Carmen
in USA 31

In America's Past 36
in Europe 31

in Time 31

in World (DeLuxe) 4 9
Wing Commander If 4 9
Windows Entert. Pak 29
Windows Product. Pak 4 0
Word Munclier 30

World Atlas 38

World Class Soccer 26
Writer Rabbit 31

Wrath ol Demon 31
Your Personal Train SAT3 1

Balllechess 49

Beethoven's Ninth 59

Carmen in World Deluxe6 9
Corel Draw 429

Family Doctor 5 9

Game Collection 51
Gunship / Mid Winter 6 2
Ml Tank Platoon 62
Privt. Picture (Adult 0nly)6 9
Railroad Tycoon 6 2
Wing Com, j Ultima VI 6 9

BUSINESS 4 UTILITY I SOUND CARDS

386 Max 6 9

Above Ulililias 5 1

Adobe Type Managers 1
After Dark lor Windows 29
Ami Pro. 2.0 285

Ami Pro 2.0 Upgrade 92
Auto Map 54

Automenu 35

Bannermania 22

Backer Tools 2.0 75
Calendar Creator + 4.0 49
Carbon Copy 1 1 4

Cartoon Calendar a Day19
Cash Biz 31

Central Point Anii Virus 65
Certificate Maker 26
Check-itI 80

Clarion Personal Devel. 49
Colorix 9 5

Copy It PC 3 5

Corel Draw 2.0 349
Correct Grammar/Wind. 6 2
DacEasy Accounting 8 5
Definitions Plus 6 0

Oasqview 2.4 7 9

Desqview 386 v6.0 124
0 R DOS 6.0 69

Dvorak on Typing 31
Eight in One 3 6

Express Publisher 9 5
Facelill 6 5

Far Side Calendar 4 9
Form Tool Gold 5 7

Geoworks Pro 119

Grammatik 5 or Win. 57
Harvard Graphics 3.0 375
HIjaak 99

Icon Do It 22

tnlo Select 95

Label Pro Laser or Dot 47
Labels Unlimited 3.0 59
Laplink IV Pro 115

Lotus t-2-3 v2.3 319
Lotus Works 84

Math Type 155

Microsoft Game Shop36
M. Soft Quik Basic or C 65
MS DOS 5.0 59

MS DOS 5.0 Upgrade B4
Norton Antivirus 85
Norton Utilllles 6.01 115
Pacioli 2000 31

Pagemaker 4.0 470
PC Anywhere IV 95

PC DCiS 5.0 Upgrades 5
P C Kwik Powerpak 65
PC Paintbrush IV+ 114
P C Tools 7.1 99

PFS; First Choice 75
PES: First Publisher 75
PFS: Widow Works 105
Procomm Plus 2.0 69
Publish It! 2.0 135

Publishers Paintbrush 279
Pyro Screen Saver 33
QDOS 3 4 6

OEMM 6.0 59

ORAM 49

Quicken 5.0 43

Quicken Quick Pay 39
RBase Personal 9 7
Stacker 79

Stacker w/ 16 bit card 179
Turbo Cad 2.0 82

Winfax Pro 74

Winrix 235

Wired for Sound 2 7
Word Perfect 5.1 249

Dust Covers
Keyboard 1 2

CPtI & Uont- or Print. 1 5
Grounded Wrist Pads 9
Keyboard Skin

(specily make i model)1 5
Static Pad - Keyboard 1 2
Static Pad ■ System 1 5

Ad Lib 7E

Ad Ub MicroChannel 13E
Ad Lib Gold 1000 18S
Ad Lib Gold 2000 269
Ad Lib Soltware avail.CALl
ATI Stereo F/X 139

Sound Blaster 119

Sound Blaster MCA 21 9
Sound Blaster Pro 195
Sound Master II 149
Pro Audio Spectrum2 39
Pro Audio Mulimedia
Upgrade Kit 739

Tnunderboard 9S

Roland LAPC-1 395
Roland MCB 105

■HCKSH

Cakewalk Apprentice 145
Midialor 101 95

Music Quest Midi Card 95

MOX-16
Roland MPU-IPC
Roland MPU-IMC
Voyelra Jr-22/Pak
Voyetra Sr-22/Pak

145
135
245
129
199

MIDI SOFTWARE

Ballade

129

3and in a Box

b»

i^adenza

129

Cakewalk

Dakewalk Pro

169

Copyist App. 2.0
Master Tracks Pro

9b
?49

i^usic Printer Plus

419

Play i! by Ear

lomeo

Rhythm Ace

Songwrite 5

Trax for Windows

JOYSTICKS

CH Flightstick 4 4

CH Mach III 3 2

CH Game Card III Auto 31
Eliminator 33MHz Card 28
Gravis Joystick 3 5
Kralt KC3 18

Kraft Thunderstick 2 8
Maxx Flight Yoke 6 9
Maxx Flight Pedal 3 9
Qutckshot Warrior 1 8
Thruslmaster 88

Thrustmastef Weapons 8 8
2 Player Game (Jard 1 5

■llM*»iJJriH;Mlia

Appoint Mouse Prol.Pen70
CH Roller Mouse [serial)8£
CM 290 E Mouse 2 4
Expert Mouse Serial 9 5
Microsoft Bus Mouse 115
Microsoft Serial Mouse 9 5
Mouseman CordlesslSJ
Mouseman Serial 6 9
Trackman Serial 7 9

MODEMS S FAX

Frecom Fax 96 139
Frecom 96 One-Uner 1 85
MaxFax 9624 119

MaxLite Ext. Fax/Mod. 239
PM 2400 Internal 129
Sportster 2400 lnler.129
Sportster 2400 Exter. 149
Zoom External 2400 8 9
Zoom Internal 2400 7 9

SCANNERS

CoRtplete 1/2 Pg Scan.lBS
Complete Hand Scan 1 55
Microtek 800G 829
Mouse Sys.Pagebrushl 65
Niscan Scanei W/0CR285
Scanman 32 1BD

Scanman 256 265

Scanman 256 MCA 349

Utsm Ciri, Vijj, DiKover, iral Amnan Expres Mrts «e»pl«). No lundwjs on axlii cardj. No C.O.D.'s. To onlw by nsil: P.O.
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*Oo«i noi induda ctosaouts, !i:^iiidaU0flS cr limited quantiiias and product must ba sliipping.

286 to 386

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Gordon & Associates

19831 IlillitigsCourl
GailhersburR, Maryiaml 20870

Telephone or Fax
(301) 977-1329

circle R»der Sarvin Number 252

Rated

VGA.^

Not a Video! Not a Cartoon! But Irut film quality,
csmputer-anlmated movies by professional artists!

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Send Chectar Uonif Order, llAtltrtnd Yat MxtpUd.

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(20t) 947.5252

V Must Sale Age Over 2i. y

Circle Reader Service Number 160

Go against the grain.
Cut down on salt.

-K

Adding salt to your
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circle Reader Service Number 208

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For IBM/MS-DOS:

SSISPEOALS I19.50eacri

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Inductive Logic

PO. Box 2623S

San OBgo. CA 32196

(619) 57B-5H6

IntclHscut Software lot- hvcry User

Circle Reader Service Number 127

THE LEADER IN
LOTTERY SOFTWARE

LEVERAGE YOUR ODDS!

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To order (WC/Visa) call 1-800-829-6881
or sond check or M/0 witt) disfiette sfzo to

T«hr*<iiaBy Unk, Inc
P.O. Box 1 102
Libertyvltlo, Ihrxiis 60046

Anamsf InrKwawa Prwtjci B> SP T

S39.95 + S4 S/H
C 5^> i:i.les J'aiJ

\//S(/>lL FANTASIES
ON CD-ROM! ![

450+ Megs of the Hottest Adult Graphics Anywheref
Enjoy the Best and Own the Most

Select Your Favorite Fantasy and Tag the Pictures of Your Choice.
Enjoy Viewing the Sizzling Pics of the Ultimate Erotic Slide Show.
Designed for the Best in Adult Entertainment. Not a "BBS" disc.
Over 2,500 640x480 & Up VGA/SVGA Photos. Average File Size: 180K.
Choose to Load Direct from CD-Rom or Hard Drive to Optimize Speed.

'*** Only 99.95 ****

For Sale to Adults Only.

Must State 21 or Over.

KGB World Facts 99
USA Wars:,Vletnam 99
space Series Apollo 95
Lang of the World 295
N. Am. Fax Book 149
street Atlas USA Call
CIA World Facts 79

Terrorist Groups 79

CD Rom Software Specials!

The Original Shareware 1992 99

Battle Chess for the MFC 69

World View MPC Media Clips 39

Wild Places MPC Media Clips 39

Audubon's Multimedia Mammals 47

Ebert's Home Movie Companion 65

Coates Art Review: Impressionism 99

The USA State Factbook 89

STW Game Pacl< II 67

The Family Doctor 79

European Monarchs 99

Toolworks Ref Lib 99

RBBSinaBox 97

Total Baseball 79

Middle East Diary 99

CD Roms in Print 99

Creative Labs Multimedia Upgrade Kit: Includes Sound Blaster Pro , Fast Panasonic CD -Rom
Drive, Microsoft Bookshelf, Jones in the Fast Lane, Sound Clip Anthologies, & More S599.00

FREE: 12.95 Value DISK CADDY With Purchase Over $100.00*

•S10Q Minimum Order requirement does not include shipping or applicable taxes.

IVIC/ViSA/AiVlEX, Ck/MO. 24 hrsff days. Add 4.00 Shipping. CA Residents Add 8.25%

PC CompoNet Inc. 2060 Emery Ave., Suite 216 La Habra, CA 90631 TEL: (310) 943-9878

Call... 1 (800) 524-381 1 Toll Free

Order Via FAX at (31 0) 947-1 1 31

circle Reader Service Numtwr 177

Circle Reader Service Number 204

Earn $4,000 Per Month

From Your Home

With A Computer!

FREE CBS 386 SX Computer

Quit spending money on your computer
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you the computer and printer. If you
already own a computer, you may receive a
discount. You do not need to own, or
know how to run, a computer — we will
provide free, home office training. FinanC'
ing available.

To receive free cassettes and coior literature,
call toll-free-

1^800^343-8014, ext, 303

(in Indiana: 317'758'4415) Or Write:

Computer Business Services, Inc.
CBC Plaza, 5te. 303, Sheridan, IN 46069

SeXXy Disk #1 - An un-

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SeXXv Disk #2 ■ 3 tnoaiTAtr
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SeXXy DIak #3 - NEWl Trf
lo szo'6 11 over 150 Homintj:
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SeXXy Disk MA - NEWt
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czlebiities.

$7 sac'i, any 3 for $17, or all
6 tor $32. For IBM & conpat.
ma FnAnrVf^Anrs^hir^F^'rt

SeXXy

SOFTWARE

CONNOISSEUR
COLLECTION

ALL H£Wnn25B Color VGAII

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The FIRST CUSTOMIZABLE mone Jlloxs
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HOVIEI Th! firsi computef movis with
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cgsi mfT.piiitr mav« ji-aJabie. Ofiiy iw ihe
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Disk tea • VOLUPTUOUS MDVIC
wilh Sojndl See ir^ heir a rrmo^o^ of
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Disk «CC5 • ODOiriES MOVIE wlUl
Soundl See and men or inciedl^Ie
proporE^ns and vramen Mth un>qje aQlli^e$
' UHBEUEVEAELEI

I Uniii t29 3 Vrnti SSS S Movies (91-
All CC Disks Require VGA monlLor and
hard ritsk - mtt 1 MB of admn

SeXXcapades — T^g EIrsT adult game with TRUE SOUND and 30

siHlirw 256 t;o!or VGA scenes • Sexual pieterence and foieplay options - Ray

wvtn 2-9 ciose ffienos - Qver 5M3 nf pure actronl . Fultittyouf sexual desires

wth new expcnences ■ find ait how your partner woulrt realhr iiire lo make love

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Our EXCL USIVB 256 color VGA graphics
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SG10 ' HUGE che&t dsk ■ extfeittfily ampt^ eodowed women TALK to yoa wtiiie

you attn-ire their HUGE ptopOftSorts ■ SIZZLiNC!

SG1 1 • Ent^onter d^k - we can t describe the explicit acttpn voii will see ani3

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atilocirg. coitvttljnj to IWIUXIWS WALLPAPER, ani) chjnjirv) the pictures. Req.

VGA wan S12K.

Pricnt One disk $19, 2 disks US, 3 disks 149, 4 disks (59

SeXXy CD-ROM- 680 MB mlh 5,268 VGA pictures, 87 movies,

67-i stories, Qoirres Price: S99(SE9 wilh an; CC disk).

CD-ROM Bundle - 3 dlHiircnl KXX CD-ROMS $199,

ADO S3 SrH . 3 5" Or FOREIGN ORDERS ADD SZOISK ■ lU PA ADD TAX

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24 HRS / 7 DAYS • Or CWMO 10

SeXXy Software, 2860 Bergey Rd.. DepI GOOFS, Hallleld, FA 19440

THE COMPETITION ISN'T EVEN CLOSE!!

Circle FJeader Service Number 116

WhereAdults
Come To Play!

■ Local Numibcis Cowitag 700 US. OOisI

■ CB-Stylc Group and Private ChaU

■ lOOO'a Of ShaiTware Programa!

■ Buslnesa and PoBonal Seniccsl

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■ Live MulUplaycr Gamcsl

■ Matchmaker Dating Databasel
« Designed For Adult Userst

For Signup, Moke Information, Or A
Local Number Near You Call

818-35&€968

Br MODEM, a/K/i-a/iafii4O0 Bjum

Circle Reader Service Number 141

REMOVE
HARDWARE LOCKS

PROTECT YOUR INVESTMENT!
MAINTAIN PRODUCTIVITY!
Software utility Ihal allows for
thG removal of hardware locks.

Available for most nujor
CAD/CAM uid PCB
toftwirc programs

Easy - Simple - Guaranteed
Programs start at $99.00 U.S.

Vila and Mastuxard Welcome
Call or Fax for more Inrormatlon

S*ItScll Sjjlenu Iflc.
W2-11M Concordia Atl
Wliiiil|>t|,Mb. 1UK4BI

FAX (3M) tit-ySU

Circle Reader Service Number 143

XXX-RA7£P
CD- ROM

Must state age 21 I — - --

Ottier Products Available

+ 70 VGA movies '

+ Over 600 VGA GIF images jj^f^

+ Resolutions of 640x480 & up Format
+ Completely menu-driven; Easy to use
+ Setup & compressed far use on BBS
+ DOS & Windows utilities included
+ No hard drive installation required

Send check/money order to:

Starware Publishing Corp.
P.O. Box 41 88. Dept. 68
Deerllelii Beach, PL 33442

Add $3 S&H
Add $3 Foreign
FL add 6% sales tax

B00-354-5353K

S4 HOURS/ 7 DAYS ^
lis 4 Caiiaila Orders ^
For more information,
Credit Card FAX Orders
& Foreign Orders call
Voice 305 - 426 - 4552
FAX 305 -426 -9801

SOFTWARE
PREVIEWS

are only a phone call away
. . . ttie mail takes a little longer.

1-800-433-2938

Wedgwood Computer

5312 Woodway Drive
Fort Worth, Texas 76133

Circle Reader Service Number 172

The BEST in IBM
Shareware

WINDOWS - GEOS

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PRODUCTIVITY

GAMES - BIBLE

LOTS MORE!

Send $2 for sample disk &
SUPER catalog (refundable)

mOVfl^lES

I Dept. I

/ P.O. B0X&1S3
1^ Waukeflan.lL 60079

Circle Reader Service Number 135

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We are the original ... and clearly

the best business

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profit potential!

CALL TOLL FREE
1-800-722-0200

Academic Guidance Services,Inc.

1 5000R Commerce Parkway,

Dept.C692

Mt. Lauref, NJ 08054

Circle Reader Service Numt»r 130

Circle Reader Service Number 248

CLASSIFIEDS

ACCESSORIES

IBM SPECIALS

.. - COfMVERTIBLE

ACCESSORIES & SERVICE
for Both IBM MODELS

- MEMORY EXPANSIONS

- HARD DRIVES

- PRINTER PORTS

- SERIAL PORTS

- SOFTWARE

MANY MORE SPECIALTY ITEMS

FREE CATALOG

214-276-8072

PC. Box 461782
Dept - C
Garland, TX 7S046-1782

FAXii BBS 214-272-7920

BOOKS

UNIQUE GIFTS FOR COMPUTER USERS!
Roppy Clocks, DISCalculators & more.
Send for free cautlog: Random Access,
219E Cosby Manor Road, Utica, NY 13502.

DISCOUNT COMPtrrER BOOKS. TTiousands of

lilies availabic. Please call or wriic

for your free catalog today. BOOKWARE.

344 Waienown Rd., Thomaslon, CT 06787

(203) 283-6973 (800) 288-5662

COMPUTERIZE YOUR HOME TODAY!

Hundreds of Home Automation products and

systems, including Dynasty PC integrated

software: controls everything from lights

to VCR's and Keating systems. Free 52

page catalog from Home Automation Laboratories,

call 1-800-HOME.LABI

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

WE'LL PAY YOU TO TYPE NAMES AND AD-
DRESSES FROM HOME. S500.00 PER 1000. Call 1-
900-896-1666 ($1,49 min/18 yrs.+j or Write; PASSE -
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COMPUTE Classified is a low-cost way to tell
over 300,000 mbrocomputer owners about
your product or service.
Additional Information. Please read carefully.

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line for tmld face wirds. or $50 fof the entire ati set in tJOtd-
face (any numtjer of ines )

Terms: FVepaymoni is required- We accept cfvecNs. mon-
ey ordofs, VISA, or MasIefCard.

General infomntlon: Advertsefs using [xsl otfice txjx nutrv
ber in Iheir ads musl supply permanent address and
telephone number Orders will not t3e acknowledged. Ad
will appear in next available issue after receipt.

Closing: The 15th of the third month preceding cover
dale (e.g May issue closes March 15!fi)

CLASSIRED OtSPLAY RAFES

Classified display ads measure 2'/*" witJe and are priced
according to heigh!, 1"= $275: 1'// = $400; r = $525.

HOWTOOROER

Call Maria Manaseri, Classified Manager, COUfPUTE. 1
Wbods CI., Huntington, NY 11743, at 516-757-9562

CLASSIFIEDS

CABLE TV

J^^

PRIME TIME

CABLE

COMPANY

CABLE TV DESCRAMBLERS

Coni/Erters, Accessories - Lowest Prices

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COMPUTER INSURANCE

^l^^ 2eE3E3G3faE3E3E3e3£aE3E3SEaE3SE3GSE3

IH^JI Insures Your Computer g

JVmH SAFEWARE Compulen>wnere CDWraje S

BMT .^^^m. provides replKement of hardware, media and S
"If J^MPJ^ ptiichased software, h-emiums start at S49 a m
pi Jt^>UJ'"''J-^^taf. co«p^ theft, power surges and accidenti g

i Call 1-800-848-3469 °

g SAFEWARE, The Insurance Agency Inc. g

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COMPUTER REPAIR

24 HOUR Computer Repair. Commodore,
Amiga, IBM, Apple. A & M Computer
Repair. 20 Guernsey Dr. New Windsor,
NY 12553. 914-562-7271 1-800-344-4102

Aulh. Comm. repairs C64/128, 1541/1571,
SXM. 128D & Amiga. Selling DTK-comp
eompuicrs. Quick service-30 day wananiy
MOM & POP's Computer Shop. 114 N. 16lh,
Bethany, MO 64424 (816) 425-4400

EDUCATION

I3.S- ^;^jvi-s-

• IrHfepthtiegwffMTB.'T^wmallawraeahonwitjdy.

• BS couises inSuoe HS.MS, BASIC. PASCAL. C, Diia Fik!
PtKWsing, Dala Slfjautes 4 Operating systems

• MS HWrsw iri^fle SoffAare Eng^wu^, AflrfcHi IrieBtgencg
and nucti mofc.

Fm Iree inlomalwi call 1 -800-767-2427

aiOI-CC MaQKHia Ave. S. ' Sua 200 ■ Bmingtm, Al. m&

MISCELLANEOUS

"HOMEWORKERS NEEDED NOW BY 150 FIRMS. TOP
PAY. START IMMEDIATELY. DIRECTORY SEND Sl.OO
AND #10 SELF ADDRESSED STAMPED ENVELOPE TO:
ELMIRA M. POLK, 257 BROAD DRIVE SW, DEPT. C,
CONCORD, NC 28025"

SOFTWARE

The ONLY Lottery Systems With

PROVEN JACKPOT WINNERS

are those in Gail Howard's

SMART LUCK® SOI=TWARE

Call Toll-Free 1-800-B76-G-A-I-L. ,

S"'

^-,

(See Her Ad in Product Mart.) '

SOFTWARE

ADULT VGA SOFTWARE. OVER 600 TIllES ! ALL
CATEGORIES ; 6 DISK SAMPLER, ONLY $20, OR
30 MB OF X RATED GIFS ONLY $50. CAL-AD
SOFTWARE P.O. BOX 50204 LONG BEACH CA. 90815

BUY/SELL used software! Lowest Prices! Free list.
Specify 64/128, Amiga or IBM. Ccnlsible Software, PC
Boi 930, St. Joseph, Ml 49085.
Phone:616-428-9096 BBS: 616-429-721 1

WHY PAY HIGH PRICES? QUALFTY IBM SHARE-
WARE 3100+ Gen, 150+ Adult, plus G, R, X GIFs
$ 1 .50 ea* no milt. Gen/Adult catalog S 1 ea. Age & sig-
nature for adult cat. *(SHAREWARE PROGRAMS RE-
QUIRE SEPARATE PAYMENT TO AUTHORS IF
FOUND USEFUL).

Sunshine Software, 6492 South St, #470. Lakewood CA
90713 ASP Approved Vendor

IBM - COMMOEXJRE 64 & 128 - AMIGA.
lOOO's of PD/Sharewarc programs on lOO's
of disks. Free listing or SI for large
descriptive catalog (specify compulcr).
DISKS O'PLENTY INC.. 8362 Pines Blvd.,
Suite 270B, Pembroke Pines, FL 33024

USED SOFTWARE— Free Brochure. Specify
Amiga or C64/128. We also buy used software.
Send li-si. Bare Bones Softwais, 940 4th Ave.,
#222. Huntington, WV 25701 or 1-800-638-1123.

IBM-C64/I28-APFLE PD & SHAREWARE - Free

catalog or $2 for sample & catalog
(refundable). Specify computer. CALOKE
IND (B). Box 18477, Ray town. MO 64133

VOLCANO MAN; A version of Hangman. Try to stop
the lava from Kraka-Pcaka. Can switch languages
in a key stroke to English. French, Spanish,
German, Italian. SIO

MEMORY EXPLORER: See inside your computer's
tnemoiy as though il was pages in a book.

S5
POLYNOMIAL FIT: Enter numbers. Plot. Print.
Fil curves to the points. Also Log fit.

SIO
Specify if IBM 3.5 or 5'/4 or MAC. Shipping and
handling & any taxes included. Mail check or money
order to:

ROSETTA DISK CORP

318 Sullivan Rd.

Schenectady, NY 12304

IBM Compatible PD and Shareware.

Programs as low as 8 cents each. Send

$1 for catalog disk to: SMJ SOFTWARE

Dept PC, 2912 SHERMAN AVE., ROCKFORD IL

61101

FREE! IBM PD & SHAREWARE DISK CATALOG

Low prices since 1988! ASP Approved Vendor.
Finto Software, Dept. M. Rt. 2, Box 44, Rosebud. TX
76570 or FAX (817) 583-2151.

900- AMERICA'S #1 CHOICE FOR IBM & AMIGA
SOFTWARE! CHOOSE FROM ADULTXX, BUSINESS,
ENTERTALVMENT, PROGRAMMING, & MUCH MORE.
900-933-0024 (2400) OR 900-933-0O96 (HST-
DUAL 9600) THE ONLY ASP APPROVED 90O BBS
$1.39 1ST MIN, 39 CENTS PER MINUTE AFTER!

SOFTWARE

HWE YOU WON THE LOTIIRY?
[» YOU OWN LOTTO PICKER™
WBLl, WHAF DD YOU EXPECT!

'LOTTO PICKER is your ticket to the
"^H'l^ ''''^' '■'^^^ PKKER works t)y dixovering
tlte hidden biases in ever/ lottery game world-
wide. Using this into to your advantage Lotto Picker
wilt tell you exactly which numbers to play - no guess- work
involved. Your Lotto Picker card wili be loaded with com-
binations and number patterns mosi likety to be selected!
Plays all Pk;k 3,4.6,7.10,11. Also plays games based on play-
ing cards (MS-DOS only). FREE telephone support with
each purchase. For MS-DOS, Apple II, and C64/128.
NEW LOW PRICE S29.9S (■fS4.55 s/h). NY add lax,
SAUSKCTKN GUARANTSED OR YOUR UOHEY BACKI
ORDER TODAY! 1.8(XM94-1W2 Koda 0644 or 1-7)8-317-1961
GE RDGE SERVK^ES, INC.,
B4fl Hensselaai Ave., Dept CP
Slaien Island, NY 10309

HOME IMVEKTORY SOFTWARE (MS-DOS)
Catalog everything you own. Lots of reports. Guaranteed
best Home-Inventory Piogram available ■ $49 Plus $5 S/H.
Specify 3.5' or 5.25" Disk. Micro Compiiler Solutions 4146
S. Georgia Amarillo. TX 791 10 1806) 359-9958

LEARN DBASE IV NOW! State of the An ORDER

ENTRY system. Complete w/over 50 programs. Ideal
for small business. Send SI9 + $2 for S&H + disk size
to: TPCS Corp. 740 NE 167th ST Dept. 13, NMB FL
33162. 1.(305)864-3835

WE OFFER YOU MORE THAN JUST UP SEHVICEI

Discover why so many people arc AMAZED
with our unique selection system. You'll
put SS$$S in YOUR pocket tomorrow TOO if
you order yours today. For IBM & Clones.
Supports ALL Pick 3 & 4 Stale Lotteries!
Only $19.95 + $3 S/H. OH res. add 6% tax,
BL LIP Software Box 5044 Poland. OH 44514

SUPPLIES

LASER CARTRIDGE RECHARGE - $39.00 ■
Don't throw your laser printer cartridge $S
away. We disassemble, clean, refill, adjust.
Evergreen Rechargeables (800) 238-8719

Closing date for July classifieds

is April 15.
Call/Fax your ad (516) 757-9562

135

NEWS BITS

Jill Champion

Meeting significant

others online,

dodging Michelangelo,

learning the ropes

from AT&T, opening

superstores,

watching for superchips,

and more

Bills Plus

Southwestern Bell may be on-
to a future trend: In a four-
month test run, the phone com-
pany Is billing a portion of its
business customers via flop-
py disk or modem rattier thian
tfie U.S. Postal Service. Bills
are uploaded and analyzed
on tfie customer's PC using
special software developed
by Southwestern Bell.

Advantages of the electron-
ic Bill Plus system encom-
pass everything from tracking
all your employees' phone us-
age patterns to detecting
fraud on the telephone bill.
Paying the bill, however, is
still up to the customer.

Great New BODs

Books on disk (BODs), a rel-
atively new concept that so
far has been the exclusive do-
main of CD-ROM owners,
have made the jump to Macin-
tosh format, thanks to Voyag-
er Software. The publisher re-
cently released electronic ver-
sions of the New York Times
bestseller Jurassic Park, by Mi-
chael Crichton; The Complete
Annotated Alice, by Martin
Gardner; and Hitchhiker's
Guide to the Galaxy, a four-
volume series by Douglas
Adams. Titles in progress in-
clude Baddash, by Susan Fa-
ludi, and Gone to Soldiers, by
Marge Piercy.

More than mere text,
BODs let you see and hear
what you're reading through
pictures and sound effects.
Voyager eventually plans to
publish PC versions of BODs.
In the meantime, be on the
lookout for a Voyager toolkit
for publishers and authors
who want to create their own
electronic books.

Speaking of books on disl<,
the Bureau of Electronic Pub-
lishing, which publishes BOD
titles for CD-ROM, an-
nounced its "Top Drawer"
compilation of the ten best-
selling CD-ROMs for the last

quarter of 1991. Beginning
with the top seller, they are
Grolier's Electronic Encyclope-
dia (Grolier Electronic Publish-
ing), Magazine Rack (Informa-
tion Access), U.S. History on
CD-ROM (Bureau Develop-
ment), Mammals (IBM/Nation-
al Geographic), Microsoft
Bookshelf (f\/licrosoft). Birds of
America (CMC Research),
Monarch Notes (Simon &
Schuster/BDI). World Atlas
(Software Toolworks), Refer-
ence Library (Software
Toolworks), and Bible Library
(Ellis Enterprises). The list is
based on end-user deaier
and distributor sales com-
piled by the Bureau of Elec-
tronic Publishing.

In the Chips

Watch for emerging beefed-
up 386-chip clones with on-
board math coprocessors
that will narrow the gap be-
tween the 386 and the 486.

Coming Soon

Tandy is opening its Comput-
er City SuperCenter stores in
ten new U.S. locations: St. Lou-
is; Baltimore; Seattle; fviiami;
Las Vegas; Dallas; Tampa; El
Paso; Rochester, New York;
and Arlington, Texas. If you're
computer shopping overseas,
be sure to check out the new
store in Copenhagen, Den-
mark— Europe's first Comput-
er City SuperCenter store.

Reach Out and Train Someone

The folks who claim to be
"the right choice" in long-dis-
tance calling could also be
the right choice for software
training. AT&T, in the soft-
ware-training business for sev-
en years now, has expanded
its Professional Development
Centers to 19 cities across
the country.

These PDCs offer inten-
sive, concept-based training
for both business and home
users of major software prod-
ucts: Windows, Word for Win-

dows, PageMaker, Excel, Sym-
phony, and Quatlro Pro, to
name a few (and there are a
slew of others, as well as intro-
ductory PC courses availa-
ble). Plans are to expand the
PDCs into every major U.S.
city by 1993. Anyone can ob-
tain information and register
for classes at any Profession-
al Development Center ioca-
tion by calling (800) 858-
7434, ext. 7000.

Requiem for Michelangelo

March 6, birthday of the bril-
liant Renaissance man Mich-
elangelo, came and went this
year without much destruction
in the United States. Thanks
to the mass media's cover-
age of the Michelangelo virus
that was set to strike and the
diligent practice of safe com-
puting (that's not just a
buzzword), most computer us-
ers in the States who might
have been vulnerable to the at-
tack were able to protect
their computers from the
dreaded virus before it was
able to wreak havoc.

AntiVirusPlus, CLEAN-UP,
Flu-Shot+, PC-cillin, Virex-PC,
VIRUSCAN, and Vi-Spy are
just a sampling of the scads
of antivirus "inoculators" avail-
able that helped render Mich-
elangelo nothing more than an-
other infectious aiso-ran.

And Finally . . .

Speai<ing of safe practices,
Online Access, a magazine
for online service subscribers,
reports that "electronic sex" is
a growing network phenome-
non. "Consenting adults are
using their PCs to explore al-
ternate lifestyles with com-
plete anonymity, becoming in-
timate with total strangers in
their own homes, having rela-
tionships without commit-
ment, and even finding real
mates." Check out the August
issue of COMPUTE for more in-
formation on meeting compat-
ible people online. □

136 COMPUTE JUNE 1992

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38e PC 386SX PC

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5 6 _ .

B Al home do you use your computer mostly lor ri Personal Finance Work^Home Busiriess

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K Wtiat IS your aoB' -1B-3J ..25-34 l 35-49 lj50+

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SUPER TETRIS.

It's here. The super sequel to best-selling Tetr is,
the most addictive computer game ever devised.

Super Tetris™ is even more challenging because
it comes with a blockbusting twist— bomb pieces
that help you blast your way down to the bottom

of the pit and discover treasures. Super Tetris.
Just when you thought you'd broken the habit.

Spectrum HokBytei

THE TETRIS" PEOPLE

A Division of Sphere, inc. 2061 Challenger Drive, Alameda, CA 94501

Available (or IBM and Mac/Mad I. For Visa/MasterCard orders call

24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 1-800-695-GAME (Orders Only)
Forlechnical questions call: 1-510-522-1164 (M-F: 9am-5pm PST)

SucHF Tstiis ia a trademark And Tslris la a
(pgialofqd Iradecnark of V/0 El'CCSronotgteChnice

Circle Reader Service Number 108

y-*^:'--y-~ 4. vJi;.i»i'

An adventure game that will keep
you on edge,..f

£^l V i^ffii^

r n A

THE SEQUEL TO ROBERTA WILLIAltS' "THE COLONEL'S BEQUEST '"

Laura Bow is back, trapped
in an imposing museum...

surrounded by socialites,

miscreants, thieves... '

..anda cold-blooded killer!

'y^sM^^-^U^'r

Can you finish tliis master-level Laura Bow Mystery before it finishes you?

I SIERRA

Circle Reader Servrce
Number 154

SUGGESTED PRICE: $69.95. TO ORDER, CALL 1 -800-326-6654

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Full text of "Compute! Magazine Issue 141"

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